
n.s. ^Pl 30'=) 



Grand H^pf<k, (Mieli.) Public Library 



School Survey 
Grand Rapids, Michigan 

1916 






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TABLE OF CONTENTS 



Page 

Preface - 11 

Introduction 15 

Chapter I The Teachers 20 

Chapter II Non-Promotions and Failures in the Elementary 

Schools 36 

Chapter III Introduction to Tests - ,.— 61 

Chapter IV Reading, William S. Gray 62 

Chapter V Composition, Matthew H. Willing 85 

Chapter VI Tests in Arithmetic, George S. Counts 106 

Chapter VII Penmanship, Frank N. Freeman 12^ 

Chapter VIII Music, John B. Cragun 147 

Chapter IX Instruction in the Elementary Schools, John F. 

Bobbitt 155 

Chapter ' X Introduction to High-School Report 208 

Chapter XI Secondary Schools, Calvin O. Davis 212 

Chapter XII Special Classes of the Public Schools of Grand 

Rapids, Charles S. Berry.. 306 

Chapter XIII Buildings and Equipment, John F. Bobbitt 340 

Chapter XIV The Cost of Public Education in Grand Rapids, 

Harold O. Rugg 361 

Chapter XV The Business Management of the Public Schools, 

Harold O. Rugg 441 

Chapter XVI Administrative Organization 476 

Chapter XVII Summary of the Report of the Survey of the 

Puldic Schools of Grand Rapids 484 

V^ D. of D, 

. ' ^ DEC 27 1917 ^ 



LIST OF DIAGRAMS 



Diagram Page 

I Non-promotions in each grade for the years 1913-14 

and 1914-15 38 

II Failures in reading for 1913-14 and 1914-15 40 

III Failures in arithmetic for 1913-14 and 1914-15 41 

IV Failures in geography for 1913-14 and 1914-15 42 

V Failures in history for 1913-14 and 1914-15 43 

VI Failures in language for 1913-14 and 1914-15 44 

VII Failures in handwork for 1913-14 and" 1914-15 45 

VIII Failures in physiology for 1913-14 and 1914-15 45 

IX Failures in spelling for J913-14 and 1914-15 46 

X Conditional promotions in each grade for 1913-14 and 

1914-15 47 

XI Non-promotions in the Sigsbee School 56 

XII Non-promotions in the Diamond School 57 

XIII Non-promotions in the Union School 58 

XIV Non-promotions in the Lafayette School 59 

XV Non-promotions in the Madison School 60 

XVI Progress of 4066 pupils in oral reading 65 

XVII Oral reading scores in Grand Rapids, Cleveland and 

Illinois 67 

XVIII Oral reading scores in all schools and in Sigsbee and 

Oakdale schools 67 

XIX Oral reading scores in all schools and in East Leonard 

and Widdicomb schools 67 

XX Oral reading scores in all schools and in S. Division 

and Hall schools 67 

XXI Silent reading rate in Grand Rapids, Cleveland and 

13 other cities , l(i 

XXII Silent reading rate in all schools and in 3 selected 

schools 76 

XXIII Quality of reading in Grand Rapids, Cleveland and 13 

other cities 79 

XXIV Quality in silent reading in all schools and in 3 se- 

lected schools - 79 

XXV Quality in silent reading in each grade of 4 selected 

schools 81 

XXVI Quality in silent reading in each grade of 3 selected 

schools 81 

XXVII Scores in composition in grades 4 and 5 of 17 schools 90 

XXVIII Scores in composition in grades 6 and 7 of 17 schools 91 
XXIX Scores in composition in grade 8 and all grades of 

17 schools - - - -— . 92 

XXX Comparison of composition in 17 schools w^ith compo- 
sition in 8 individual schools 95, 96 

XXXI Comparison of composition in 17 schools with compo- 
sition in 9 individual schools 97, 98, 99 

XXXII Merit curves in composition — Denver and Grand 

Rapids 100 

XXXIII Quantity curves in composition — Denver and Grand 

Rapids 101 

XXXIV Medians for all schools in 15 arithmetic tests 109 



SCHOOL SURVEY. GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 



Diagram ' Page 

XXXV Comparison of scores in arithmetic tests — Cleveland 

and Grand Rapids 110 

XXXVI Comparison of Cleveland and Grand Rapids in arith- 
metic test, Set A Ill 

XXXVII Comparison of Cleveland and Grand Rapids in arith- 
metic test, Set M 112 

XXXVIII Comparison of Cleveland and Grand Rapids in arith- 
metic test. Set F 113 

XXXIX Comparison of Cleveland and Grand Rapids in arith- 
metic test, Set L 114 

XL Comparison of Cleveland and Grand Rapids in arith- 
metic test, Set N US 

XLI Comparison of Cleveland and Grand Rapids in arith- 
metic test, Set O '. 116 

XLII Comparison of average scores made by 35 schools 

in arithmetic 118 

XLIII Comparison of records in arithmetic at Sigsbee, Lafa- 
yette, and Turner schools 119 

XLIV Scores in simple addition in 4th grade of 31 schools 

and 6th grade of 25 schools 120 

XLV Scores in arithmetic — Set A — by the "middle 50%" of 

schools in Cleveland and Grand Rapids 121 

XLVI Comparison of number of examples "attempted" and 

"solved" in arithmetic — Set M 122 

XLVII Comparison of number of examples "attempted" and 

"solved" in arithmetic — Set O 123 

XLVI II Comparison of scores in arithmetic of "fast", "slow" 

and "regular" pupils 124 

XLIX Comparison of scores in arithmetic of pupils grouped 

according to age , 125 

L Comparison of arithmetic scores of pupils failing or 
repeating below the 6th grade and of pupils re- 
peating above the 5th 126 

LI Comparison in 7th grade of arithmetic scores of "regu- 
lars", "irregulars" and "failures" 127 

LII Speed of writing in Grand Rapids and 56 cities 130 

LIII Form in handwriting in Grand Rapids and 55 cities.... 132 

LIV Speed in handwriting in St. Louis and 56 cities 133 

LV Form in handwriting in St. Louis and 55 cities 134 

LVI Rank in the formal writing test and the composition 

test ^... 136 

LVII Speed and form in handwriting for each grade in 

Grand Rapids 138 

LVI 1 1 Speed and form in handwriting for 6 selected schools 

139, 140, 141 

LIX Speed and form in handwriting at Widdicomb School 

and in 56 cities 143 

LX Speed and form in handwriting at Pine School and in 

56 cities ". 144 

LXI Speed and form in handwriting at Hall School and in 

56 cities 145 

LXII Median scores in music for Grand Rapids and for a 

composite group 152 



LIST OF DIAGRAMS 



Diagram Page 

LXIII Distribution of grades in junior and senior college 270 

LXIV Training of high-school teachers 279 

LXV Teaching experience of high-school teachers 280 

LXVI Range of salaries of high-school teachers 281 

LXVII Range of salaries of elementary and high-school 

teachers for 12 typical cities 283 

LXVIII How high-school teachers have spent summer vaca- 
tions 285 

LXIX Departmentalization of high-school work 286 

LXX Range of subjects taught daily by high-school teachers 287 
LXXI Time spent by high-school teachers preparing work.... 288 

LXXII Range in time spent by teachers preparing work 289 

LXXIII Range in time high-school teachers spend daily on 

duties other than class recitations 290 

LXXIV Range of promotions by high-sqhool teachers 292 

LXXV High-school teachers failing certain percentages of 

pupils 293 

LXXVI Pupils "passed", "not passed" and "conditioned". Sum- 
mary for 4 years — Central High School 294 

LXXVII Pupils "passed", "not passed" and "conditioned", by 

departments — Central High School 

296, 297, 298, 299, 300, 301 

LXXVIII Comparison of possible taxation with actual tax levy 

for general purposes 367 

LXXIX Comparison of possible taxation with actual tax levy 

for permanent improvements 368 

LXXX Expenditures per inhabitant for 19 cities ZKi 

LXXXI Expenditures for all school purposes per $1,000 of 

real wealth — 19 cities 378 

LXXXII Expenditures per inhabitant for all city departments 

and for schools 380 

LXXXIII Per cent of total cost payments to schools — 19 cities 381 
LXXXIV Amount spent for current expenses and permanent im- 
provements, 1902-1915 384 

LXXXV Increase in number of teachers and in average salary 

paid them, 1905-1915 : 386 

LXXXVI Per cent of current expenditures for educational and 

business purposes 391 

LXXXVII Expenditures per pupil in average daily attendance, 

for capital outlay 396 

LXXXVIII Expenditures per pupil in average daily attendance 

for elementary and secondary education 404 

LXXXIX Number of pupils per teacher in different school 

grades 407 

XC Number of pupils per teacher in elementary and 

secondary schools 411 

XCI Comparison of Board of Education and Common 

Council budgets for permanent improvements.... 421 
XCII Total amounts of bonds issued each year, 1887-1913.... 424 
XCIII Total city and school bonded indebtedness, 1890-1915 425 
XCIV Distribution of general functions in the Grand Rapids 

school system 442 



LIST OF TABLES 



Table Page 

I Distribution of that part of the population of Grand 

Rapids having close foreign relations 15 

II Some leading industries of Grand Rapids 17 

III Educational Institutions at work in Grand Rapids 18 

IV • Training of high-school teachers of academic subjects 22 
V Training of elementary and high-school teachers of 

special subjects 23 

VI Training of teachers of the grades 26 

VII Training of kindergarten teachers 26 

VIII Experience of kindergarten teachers 27 

IX Experience of H. S. teachers of ac'd subjects.^ .- 29 

X Experience of elementary and high-school teachers of 

special subjects 30 

XI Experience of teachers of the grades... 32 

XII Experience of principals 34 

XIII Training of principals 34 

XIV Non-promotions for the years 1913-14 and 1914-15....52, 53 
XV Trial promotions for the years 1913-14 and 1914-15....54, 55 

XVI Scores in oral reading for Zl schools 66 

XVII Rates in silent reading for Zl schools 75 

XVIII Quality score in silent reading for 37 schools 78 

XIX Dist. of merit scores in comp'sn in 17 schools 89 

XX Quantity and merit medians and quartile deviations in 

merit in composition for 17 schools 94 

XXI Merit rankings in composition of 17 schools 103 

XXII Comparison of quantity and merit medians in com- 
position in the Denver and Grand Rapids schools 104 

XXIII Quantity and merit medians in composition for 

schools tested by principals 105 

XXIV Medians for each arithmetic test for all grades 108 

XXV Speed and form in v^^riting in each grade of Grand 

Rapids schools 131 

XXVI Results of speed, form-writing, and form-composition 

tests in each grade of Grand Rapids schools 137 

XXVII Composite median scores for sight reading in music — 

St. Louis, Grand Rapids, Chicago 151 

XXVTTI Median scores for sight reading in music, G. R 151 

XXIX Comparison of music scores — Turner School, com- 
posite group, best Grand Rapids score 153 

XXX Hours per year to history — Grand Rapids — 50 cities.... 168 

XXXI Time given to man'l training and household occupa'ns 201 

XXXII Enrollment in Grand Rapids schools— 1910-1915 220 

XXXIII Enrollment in certain high-school classes 258 

XXXIV Facts concerning enrollment of high-school students 

according to subject 260 

XXXV Records of 17 classes at Union H. S 261 

XXXVI Wages earned during summer by 9 members of man- 
ual training class at Union School 262 

XXXVII Percentage of pupil-elimination by teachers 262 

XXXVIII Percentage of total high-school enrollment in gradu- 
ating class — Grand Rapids and 14 cities 263 



LIST OF TABLES 



Table 
XXXIX 

XL 
XLI 

XLII 
XLIII 
XLIV 

XLV 

XL VI 
XLVII 

XLVIII 

XLIX 

L 

LI 

LII 

LIII 

LIV 

LV 
LVI 

LVII 

LVIII 

LIX 

LX 

LXI 

LXII 

LXIII 

LXIV 

LXV 

LXVI 

LXVII 

LXVIII 

LXIX 

LXX 

LXXI 

LXXII 

LXXIII 

LXXIV 

LXXV 

LXXVI 
LXXVII 



Page 
Graduates entering college during four years — Grand 

Rapids and 9 cities 263 

Record of H. S. graduates at U. of M 264 

Comparison of grades given 16 students at Junior 

College and various senior-college institutions 269 

Relative standing of students in Junior College and 

other colleges 269 

Grades obtained in senior college in subjects not be- 
gun in Junior College : 270 

Distribution of grades among junior-college students 

entering senior colleges in 1915 271 

Record of academic training, experience and salaries 

of high-school teachers 278 

Comparison of range of salaries — G. R. and U cities 282 
How_ high-school teachers have spent summer vaca- 
tions for past six years 284 

Departmentalization of work in the high schools 284 

Time teachers spend daily in prepar'n of school work 287 
Range of time spent daily by high-school teachers on 

duties other than class recitations .- 289 

High-school teach's promoting stated perc'es of pupils 291 

H. S. teachers failing stated percentages of pupils 291 

Percentages of marks by Depts. Central H. S. 1911-15 295 
Percentage of pupils passed and not passed by indi- 
vidual teachers — Central High School 295 

Growth in enrollment in special classes during 8 years 307 
Increase in percentage of pupils two years or more 

over age in special classes 308 

Retardation in the elementary schools 308 

Number of pupils retarded one year 309 

Increase in size of auxiliary classes during 5 years 312 

Range in chronological and mental ages of pupils in 

auxiliary classes 312 

Results of 3 tests in auxiliary classes _ 318 

Comparison of attendance truant and all other schools 32)7 

Annual tax levies for school and city purposes 366 

Sources and amts. of rev. of Board of Education 372 

Relation of expenditures to revenue receipts Z72) 

Expenditures for all school purposes per inhabitant.... 375 
Expend, for school purposes per $1,000 of real wealth 2,77 

Expenditures per inhabitant for various city depts 379 

Per cent of governmental cost payments — various city 

departments 379 

Rank in per cent governmental cost payments — vari- 
ous city departments 382 

Amount spent for current expenditures and perma- 
nent improvements, 1902-1915 2^2 

Salary expenditures — teachers, janitors, administration 385 
Distribution of educational and business expenditures 

of the Board of Education, 1911-1915 388 

Total and per capita expenditures for educational and 

business purposes 389 

Per cent of total expenditures for educational and 

business purposes 390 

Distrib. of current expenditures for educational service 393 
Per cent of current expend, for educational service 394 



10 



SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 



Table Page 
LXXVIII Current expenditures per pupil in average daily atten- 
dance, 19 cities 395 

LXXIX Rank of 19 cities in current expenditures per pupil in 

average daily attendance 395 

LXXX Expenditures for capital outlay, 1910-11 to 1914-15 397 

LXXXI Expenditures per pupil for various specific kinds of 

service, 19 cities 399 

LXXXII Rank in expenditures per pupil for various specific 

kinds of service, 19 cities 400 

LXXXIII Rank of 19 cities in number of supervisors per 1000 

pupils 401 

LXXXIV Minimum, maximum and average salary paid to super- 
visors in cities of 50,000-100,000 401 

LXXXV Current expenditures for elementary and secondary 

schools, 17 cities 403 

LXXXVI Per cent of current expenditures for elementary and 

secondary schools, 17 cities 405 

LXXXVII Distribution of officers and teachers in different grades 

of schools -— 406 

LXXXVIII Distribution of enrollment and pupils per teacher in 

various grades of schools 406 

LXXXIX Pupils in average daily attendance per teacher — ele- 
mentary and secondary schools 410 

XC Average salaries of teachers, 1915-16 412 

XCI Median salary paid to elementary and_ high-school 

teachers and elementary-school principals 414 

XCII Salary schedules for high-school and elementary- 
school teachers 415 

XCIII Increase in salary schedules in G. R. 1907-15—..- 416 

XCIV Summary of ranks of Grand Rapids among cities of 

its class in expenditures for school activities 417 

XCV Comparison of Board of Education and Common 

Council budgets 420 

XCVI Permanent imp's paid for out of budget, 1906-15 422 

XCVII Bonds issued, rate of int. and term for which issued 423 

XCVIII School and city bonded indebtedness 1890 to 1915 423 

XCIX Bonds issued for different grades of schools, 1887-1913 427 

C Outstanding bonds maturing each year," 1916-1930... 428 

CI Cost of teaching high-school subjects — Central High 

School 430 

CII Average size classes in Central High School, 1915-16.... 431 
cm Cost of teaching per pupil in 7th and 8th grades of 

5 elementary schools, 1911-1916 434 

CIV Cost of instruction per pupil in the 9th grade of 4 

high schools, 1912-1916 436 

CV Semester costs of inst. per pupil, special classes 438, 439 
CVI Costs of instruction per pupil — special schools and 

classes 438 

CVII Cost of instruction per pupil in 7th and 8th grades in 

2 intermediate schools 438 

CVIII Data on janitors sals, for elementary sch'ls, 9 cities 452, 453 

CIX Approximate monthly salary paid to janitors 451 

CX Payroll of repair force 457 

CXI Payment to outside architects and engineers, 1906-16 462 
CXII Cost data for fireproof elementary-school buildings ..465 



PREFACE 



The survey of the schools of Grand Rapids was initiated by 
the School Board of the city for the purpose of studying the effi- 
ciency of instruction. The original purpose of the survey was to 
take up only the strictly instructional problems. A survey staff 
was organized for the purpose of visiting the various classrooms 
and conducting such tests as seemed desirable in order to evalu- 
ate the work carried on in these classes. 

As the testing and observation went forward it became ob- 
vious that the results obtained in the schools were in the main 
of a satisfactory type. The survey staff raised at this point. the 
question of the costs of conducting the schools of the city. It 
was pointed out to the Board of Education that results of the 
type that were appearing in the tests and observations could 
hardly be expected without a cost to the city which was high as 
compared with costs in other cities. At the suggestion of the 
survey staif the Board of Education extended the scope of the 
survey so as to include a comparative study of the costs of the 
system. 

In the consideration of school costs and of the business 
organization of the central office several problems of a general 
administrative type appeared and in a final conference with the 
survey staif the Board of Education decided that it was desirable 
that the survey report should be extended to include the discus- 
sion of the general organization of the school system. 

This description of the progressive enlargements of the 
scope of the survey furnishes a favorable opportunity for com- 
ment on the general purpose and function of a school survey. It 
is not the business of such an inquiry to determine the individual 
efficiency of particular teachers. It is rather the duty of the 
survey to bring together the evidences that show in general the 
character of the work done by the system as a whole. It is the 
duty of the survey to show the points at which the system is 
most highly efficient and the points at which suggestions of 
improvement can be made. 

A first survey of a school system is limited in that it can not 
show how far the system has progressed from year to year. 



12 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

There is little material at hand to furnish a background of com- 
parison with earlier conditions in the system. Thus, as will be 
shown in the later pages of this report, the various schools of 
this city show different degrees of efficiency in different aspects 
of their work. Some are better than others in penmanship or 
arithmetic. Comparisons between different schools can thus be 
made and the results can be studied. But the question whether 
in any particular a given school is more efficient at the present 
time than it was three years ago is not easy to answer because 
there is no comparable record of the achievements of the pupils 
three years ago. A periodic inventory of the school system 
would be very advantageous, because it would serve to show the 
direction in which the school system has been moving. 

Heretofore city school systems have devoted the major part 
of their energy to the routine duties of conducting classes for the 
pupils. The time has arrived when it is necessary in the inter- 
ests of efficiency that a certain portion of the system's energy be 
set aside for the critical scrutiny of results. It is the duty of the 
schools, as it is the recognized obligation of every business cor- 
poration, to check up its results as fully and as frequently as pos- 
sible for the purpose of avoiding wastage and for the purpose of 
securing any suggestions which can be profitably incorporated 
into new forms of organization. 

Whether this work of constantly checking up the efficiency 
of a system shall be carried on through an increase in the super- 
visory staff of the system itself or through the importation from 
time to time of workers outside of the city system is a problem 
which it is not easy to solve. In the present case the Board of 
Education felt that it was desirable for the purpose of the survey 
to import temporarily into the school system a number of stud- 
ents of education who were not attached in any permanent way 
to the city system. It is possible, on the other hand, to add to 
the supervisory staff an officer whose business it shall be to 
make an annual study of educational problems. This device is 
exemplified in a number of cities in the United States. They em- 
ploy efficiency experts connected with the office of the superin- 
tendent. 

The advantages that come from securing a group of outside 
educators can readily be seen in that different points of view 
will always be contributed through the efforts of these outsiders. 
On the other hand, it is to be frankly admitted that outsiders 
overlook many of the details of the school organization which 
might very profitably be made subjects of intensive study. 

The addition to the supervisory staff of an officer whose 
business it is to scrutinize the schools constantly also has certain 



PREFACE 13 

obvious advantages. It is possible to take up in succession i)rol3- 
lems that require time and long comparative studies for their 
solution. 

Perhaps a combination of the two types of surveys will 
ultimately be w^orked out. It will be possible in many instances 
for the Board to secure the co-operative judgments of different 
persons in the solution of special problems. There should, how- 
ever, be a larg-er provision for studies to be carried on each year. 
It is recommended that in the future Grand Rapids select for 
study each year one or two problems. The teaching staff" would 
be stimulated by continuous studies of educational problems and 
the schools would profit by a continuous investigation of new 
problems. From time to time elaborate inventory may be taken 
of the school activities. Such a program as this suggests the 
possibility of combining the advantages of both types of investi- 
gation above discussed. 

The personnel of the staff which made the present survey 
is as follows : 

Professor Charles S. Berry, University of Michigan, pre- 
pared the report on special classes. 

Professor John F. Bobbitt, University of Chicago, prepared 
the report on the elementary school curriculum and on the school 
buildings. 

Dr. George S. Counts, Delaware University, prepared the 
report on arithmetic. 

Mr. John B. Cragun, University of Chicago, prepared the 
report on music. 

Professor Calvin O. Davis, University of Michigan, prepared 
the report on high schools. 

Superintendent John H. Francis, Los Angeles Public 
Schools, reported briefly as indicated in the discussion of junior 
high schools on the work of that part of the system. 

Professor Frank N. Freeman, University of Chicago, pre- 
pared the report on writing. 

Dr. Wjlliam S. Gray, University of Chicago, prepared the 
report on reading. 

Dr. Benjamin F. Pittenger, University of Texas, prepared 
a large part of the statistical material i.\sed in the chapters on 
teachers and promotions. 

Dr. Harold O. Rugg, University of Chicago, prepared the 
report on school finance. 

Mr. Matthew H. Willing, University of Chicago, prepared 
the report on composition. 

Professor Charles H. Judd, University of Chicago, organized 



14 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

the survey staff and edited the results, contributing the portions 
of the report not otherwise indicated. 

General acknowledgment is to be made of the courtesy and 
co-operation of all of the officers of the Grand Rapids schools. 
The teachers, principals, and officers at the central offices have 
in every case given assistance whenever asked and have ans- 
wered all questions. 

The survey staff cannot refrain from comment on the for- 
tunate conditions under which this survey was inaugurated and 
carried out. No motive of serious tension within the system and 
no impending reorganization forced from without by discon- 
tented or doubtful patrons prompted the survey. It is the good 
fortune of the staff to have shared in a critical study of a school 
system, self-imposed and welcomed at every stage. 



INTRODUCTION 



There is no need of discussing at length the general char- 
acteristics of the city of Grand Rapids. For most of the pur- 
poses of this survey the figures for population will be taken from 
special reports by the Bureau of Census. The number of foreign- 
born inhabitants of the city can be secured in full only by referr- 
ing back to the census of 1910. At that time there were 111,879 
white persons and 665 negros in Grand Rapids. Of the total 
white population 36.2 per cent or 40,777 persons were native- 
born and born of native parentage; 25.2 per cent or 28,335 per- 
sons were foreign-born ; 38.0 per cent or 42,767 were born in this 
country of foreign or mixed parents. The following table gives 
the statistics of the more numerous nationalities represented 
among those of immediate foreign antecedents. 

TABLE I 

Table from the Census of 1910 Showing Distribution of that Part 
of the Population of Grand Rapids which has Close Foreign Relations. 

Total Number 

Foreign Born, Native Born, of Foreign 

Born in Both Parents Born in Descent 

Holland 11,891 Holland 12,742 24,633 

Germany 4,546 Germany 6,749 11,295 

Russia 3,557 Russia 1,570 5,127 

Canada (Not French) 2,997 Canada (Not French) 1,222 4,219 

Ireland 871 Ireland 1,828 2,699 

Austria 549 Austria 389 938 

Italy 319 Italy 178 497 

Canada (French) 197 Canada (French) 150 347 

The Dutch population, which is seen to be the predominant 
foreign element in the population of Grand Rapids, supports a 
number of parochial schools. There are also parochial schools 
conducted under the control of the Catholic church. These draw 
a considerable population, not only from the foreign-born but 
also from the native-born inhabitants of the city. Detailed fig- 
ures are not at hand for the attendance in these schools. It is 
one of the important functions of the Census Bureau which has 
been organized by the Board of Education to make a complete 
showing of the children who are attending these special schools 



16 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

as well as of the children who are in attendance at the public 
schools. 

The Bureau of Census of the Board of Education is organ- 
ized at the present time as part of the business office of the 
secretary of the Board of Education. A card has here been 
made up for each child in the city Avhich includes much valuable 
information and would be of very great service to the attendance 
department which is in the oiTice of the superintendent of 
schools. Comment Avill be made in a later section of this report 
on the desirability of bringing into closer relation the business 
and instructional divisions of the central office. The census is 
a crucial element of the whole situation. If cards could be care- 
fully prepared for a year or two, showing all of the children 
in the city and their distribution in different schools, and if these 
cards could be brought into close comparison with the cumula- 
tive records which the school system has worked out as a part 
of its educational machinery, the further taking of the school 
census would be greatly facilitated and the information which 
the city has about its children would be complete. Such a com- 
plete body of information would serve a great many public pur- 
poses other than that which is now served by the census. At 
the present time the census serves merely as a basis for 'the 
drawing of state funds for public schools. It is not useful at 
the present time as a basis for the activities of the attendance 
officers, and it is not as fully as it should be, an instrument for 
the educational improvement of the city. 

Wherever parochial schools exist the school problem is com- 
plicated. The complications which naturalh^ arise under these 
conditions would be in some measure alleviated if the children 
could be located and their station in the various schools deter- 
mined. It is also desirable that parochial schools be brought in- 
to closer contact with each other and with the public schools so 
far as standards of training are concerned. The whole com- 
munity is interested, whatever may be the desires of individual 
parents for special types of training for their children, in a 
standardized scheme of education Avhich shall offer to every 
child opportunities of the most complete type. A census bureau 
including all of the children would be a first step in the general 
equalization of educational opportunities. Later steps could 
be confidently expected if the children, being well located, were 
systematically studied by public off'icers in all of their education- 
al activities. 

The schools of Grand Rapids will reflect in some measure 
the economic character of the city. It hardly needs to be pointed 
out in a report of this kind that the city is famous the world 



INTRODUCTION 17 

over for its manufacture of furniture and furniture accessories. 
It has other industries which are represented in the following 
table which is taken from the statistics compiled by the Busi- 
ness School Club of the Harvard Graduate School of Business 
Administration in January, 1915. This table of the business 
activities of the city suggests very emphatically the importance 
of a larger recognition of the problem of industrial education. 
The problem of training workers in the trades has come to be 
more and more clearly recognized everywhere in this country. 
Grand Rapids is doing much in its night school, also in its 
development of vocational guidance and in its general educa- 
tional activities for the people who are at work in the factories 
of the city. There is still, however, an unaccepted opportunity 
for an extension of trade training under public auspices. The 
training of mechanics can no longer be provided for in this 
country under the apprenticeship system. The National Society 
for the Promotion of Industrial Education has recently made 
two extended surveys of the industries of cities. One of these 

TABLE II 
Some Leading Industries of Grand Rapids. 

Number of Number of Annual Wage 

Plants Employes Capitalization Expenditure 

Furniture 54 7,250 $13,321,905 $3,902,780 

Printing, Binding, etc 68 832 1,629,397 488,656 

Foundries and Machine Shops 49 1,532 2,814,500 825,131 

Plcnning Mills 20 594 1,434,000 342,581 

Tobacco 36 458 236,350 187,801 

Flour 8 118 1,152,690 71,691 

surveys' was made in Richmond, Virginia, and the other in Min- 
neapolis, Minnesota. In both of these cases attention was called 
to the urgent need for adjustments within the educational system 
to the peculiar industrial needs of the city itself. 

It has not been the function of the present survey to canvass 
the industrial activities of the city of Grand Rapids. It would be 
a very useful work for the city to undertake and one in which the 
business men would undoubtedly be interested if the school 
officers would canvass in full the educational requirements which 
parajlel the industries of the city. The high schools with their 
shops and the elementary schools, especially the junior high 
school, with their opportunities for manual training and art 
work, are meeting in some measure the needs of industrial 
training or general training of a vocational type. This work, 
would be very much more definitely aimed at the needs of the 
city if a general canvass were made of all of the industrial^ de- 
mands and educational possibilities furnished by the unique 
industrial development of the city of Grand Rapids. 



18 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

The attention of the citizens should be especially drawn to 
the possibilites of a part-time scheme of education which could 
be elaborated in a way to utilize the various factories of the 
city for educational ends, and at the same time apply the public- 
school equipment in an improvement of industries. 

A table prepared by Professor C. O. Davis in connection 
with his study of the secondary schools of the city illustrates 
another phase of public education which should not be omitted 
from any general consideration of the educational opportunities 
of the city of Grand Rapids. This table gives the leading public 
institutions that can be regarded as co-operating with the schools 
in the education of the people. 

TABLE III 
Institutions which Carry on Educational Work in Grand Rapids. 

Libraries: 5, with branches in 11 schools and also in 1 separate building. 

Hospitals, asylums, benevolent organizations: 32. 

Public parks: 40. 

Secret and benevolent societies: 41 orders with 127 societies. 

Clubs (literary, business, social, etc.) : 127. 

Musical societies (many of them of distinctive influence) : 8. 

Bands and orchestras: 17. 

Theaters and places of public amusement: Z2. 

Newspapers and periodicals: Z7, several being trade journals and several 
being the publications of various national groups of citizens. 

Churches: 22 distinct denominations with 112 edifices. 

Building and loan associations: 5. 

Colleges and schools (including musical, business, designing, corre- 
spondence, kindergarten, collegiate, and theological divisions) : 14. 

Convents and private schools: 45. 

Commercial organizations: 10. 

It will be noted especially that in this table reference is 
made to those agencies which provide for the use of the leisure 
time of the citizens of Grand Rapids. One of the educational 
problems of which this generation is becoming keenly aw^are is 
the problem of providing suitable amusement for the people. 

The leisure time of all classes of people has been increasing 
with the improvement in economic conditions. To provide for 
their leisure time is a large civic problem. The schools of Grand 
Rapids are doing much to help solve this problem especially for 
the young people. It is beyond the scope of this survey to take 
up the study of all the civic agencies which are engaged in the 
task. It may not be out of place, however, to suggest that an 
mvestigation might be carried out which would be of great 



INTRODUCTION 19 

value first in bringing to the attention of the citizens of Grand 
Rapids the importance of this phase of their life and work, and 
second in improving conditions in the city. 

These general statements will serve to introduce the survey 
of the public schools. The schools in their present organization, 
the relation of the business management to the instructional 
management, the character of the teaching staff, the relation be- 
tween the various divisions of the schpol system, and the achieve- 
ments of the classes in typical aspects of their work, constitute 
the problems which will be treated in this report. 



CHAPTER I 

THE TEACHERS 

The Organization of a Corps of Teachers 

A school system depends very largely for its efficiency upon 
the character and training of its teaching staff. The facts on 
which to base comparisons of the body of teachers employed 
in the schools of Grand Rapids with teachers in other cities of 
like size are difficult to secure. It may be said in general that 
American teachers are characterized by a relatively short tenure 
of office, and by a limited technical preparation for their work. 
These defects in the general^ equipment of American teachers 
grow in part out of the rapidly changing social conditions of this 
country. The attractive opportunities offered by industry and 
business to the young people of the country have taken away 
from the schools the grade of young men and young women 
who, two generations ago, taught school. The schools are at the 
present time in sharp competition with the business world. For 
example, it is usually more profitable for a young woman with a 
high-school training to take a short business course and enter 
an office as a stenographer where she will be employed for the 
whole year than to go through a normal school and enter a school 
system where the long vacation deprives her of an opportunity 
of continuous employment. Furthermore, the grade of salaries, 
as has often been pointed out in discussions of school matters, 
is such that the business and professional opportunities outside 
of the school are more and more encroaching upon the teaching 
staff. 

The difficulty of organizing a strong and permanent teaching 
staff is rendered serious also by the fact that many who enter the 
teaching profession continue in the schools only for a short time. 
The vast majority of the teaching force is made up of women 
who ultimately leave the schools to be married. 

Furthermore, those who enter the profession migrate freely 
from school system to school system. This migration, has the 
advantage of transferring new ideas from one center to another, 
but it has, on the other hand, the serious disadvantage of break- 



THE TEACHERS 21 

ing up the organization of the schools and interrupting the 
development of consecutive policies. Every business finds it 
costly to break in new workers. 

Grand Rapids has Teachers of Long Tenure and 
Technical Training 

In spite of these difficulties the teaching corps of Grand 
Rapids shows relatively long tenure and a relatively high grade 
of equipment. The great majority of the teachers of the Grand 
Rapids schools are experienced, thoroughly acquainted with the 
conditions of their work, and equipped by special- technical train- 



Preparation of High-School Teachers of Academic Subjects 

The facts with regard to the teaching stafif of Grand Rapids 
can be enumerated in several tables. The first of these tables 
deals with the training of high-school teachers in academic sub- 
jects. The facts are reported in full in Table IV. It will be 
noted that 70 of the 91 high-school teachers in the city have 
college degrees. Sixteen more have a normal-school education. 
For some years the schools of Grand Rapids have been included 
in the lists of the North Central Association. This Association 
requires that all of the teachers of academic subjects shall be col- 
lege graduates. The University of Michigan is also insistent 
that the qualifications of teachers reach at least the level of a 
college degree. These requirements are not made retroactive. 
Teachers of experience who do not have degrees are therefore 
retained if they are successful, but the new appointees must 
have degrees. The number should therefore continually increase 
of those holding degrees. One feature of this table which de- 
serves special comment is the number reported as having taken 
graduate work. Further comment on high-school teachers will 
be found in the report of Professor C. O. Davis on secondary 
schools. 

Preparation of Teachers of Special Subjects. 

Table V shows the training of the teachers of special sub- 
jects. This table does not distinguish between teachers in the 
high schools and the elementary schools. This table shows a 
fact which is very general throughout the United States, namely, 
the fact that teachers of special subjects are not trained by as 
long a period of study as are teachers of academic subjects. At 
the present time it is impossible for even the best school sys- 



22 



SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 



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24 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

terns to demand that technical teachers have a complete academic 
training in addition to their technical training. Attention must, 
however, be called to the fact that the development of the course 
of study is seriously impeded by the fact that these teachers of 
special subjects are very frequently not qualified to enter in a 
large and sympathetic way into the discussions of general edu- 
cational problems. The academic subjects are the older subjects 
in all schools. The members of the faculty who have charge of 
the academic subjects are better trained and because of longer 
experience are more influential in determining the policies of the 
schools which they serve. The newer subjects suffer from the 
limited training of their representatives. Furthermore, these 
subjects are often sorely in need of the kind of organization 
which can be worked out only by teachers of better training. 

Special Difficulties in Securing Teachers for 
Technical Subjects 

Grand Rapids has included a generous list of these special 
subjects in its organization. It must face two facts with regard 
to these subjects. First, they are expensive. One reason why 
teachers of inferior training must be employed in these courses 
is that the competition of business is very much sharper here 
than in the case of academic teachers. A shopman, for example, 
can usually earn in the trades or in the engineering profession 
more than the school can pay him for conducting classes. At 
the standard salary paid to the teacher, he continues to be a shop 
teacher either because he is devoted to that type of professional 
life or because he is inferior from the industrial point of view. 
In many cases the city is paying for the services of these special 
teachers as much as would be paid for an academic teacher of 
longer training. 

In the second place, not only is the cost of special subjects 
great but the vigilance of the school system in organizing these 
newer subjects must be very large. Statements will be made in 
later parts of this report with regard to the efficiency of the 
work carried on in some of these lines. It is extraordinarily dif- 
ficult at this stage of educational organization to determine the 
degree of efficiency exhibited in many of the special subjects. 
Their materials are not as systematically arranged as are the 
materials of the older courses. In some cases, the materials are 
not easily accessible to teachers and students, and commonly 
there is an absence of agreement as to the best methods of teach- 
ing in these subjects. The city must be prepared to give some- 
what larger support to the supervising officers of the system if 
the work in these new subjects is to be kept at a high level. 



THE TEACHERS 25 

Preparation of Grade Teachers 

Table VI shows the preparation of the grade teachers. It 
will be seen at a glance that the great majority of these teachers 
are normal-school graduates. The majority of them have had a 
full normal-school course of two years. There is still a danger- 
ous margin of teachers who have had less than a normal-school 
course. Only a very limited number of teachers in the grades 
have college degrees. The city of Grand Rapids is developing, 
as will be pointed out more fully later, a plan of education which 
includes in the seventh and eighth grades many courses that 
heretofore have been recognized as high-school cpurses. If this 
work in the seventh and eighth grades is to be administered 
satisfactorily, the teachers who conduct these courses must be in 
their training and equipment at least the equals of the high- 
school teachers. The showings of this table for the seventh and 
eighth grades make it clear that this ideal has not been reached 
m any complete sense at the present time. 

The grades which call for special comment are the first 
grade and the sixth grade. These grades stand forth as con- 
spicuous for the limited school training of their teachers. Eleven 
of the teachers in the sixth grade have only one year of normal- 
school training, and seven have only a high-school training. Out 
of a total of 45 teachers this is a very large number to have so 
limited a training. The first grade has a somewhat larger num- 
ber of teachers without full institutional training. The deficiency 
in the sixth grade is perhaps more serious than that in the first 
grade because of the greater demand in the higher grade for 
academic preparation for the guidance of the older children. 

Preparation of Kindergartners 

Table VII shows the training of the kindergarten teachers of 
the city. The kindergarten teachers of Grand Rapids are sup- 
plied for the most part by a private kindergarten institution in 
the city. Grand Rapids has been progressive in its treatment 
of the kindergarten problem. In many cities of the United 
States the kindergarten is so widely separated from the first 
grade that pupils get very little advantage from their kinder- 
garten training when they enter on the regular work of the 
schools. Grand Rapids has eliminated this difficulty in large 
measure by appointing a single supervisor to take charge of both 
the primary and the kindergarten instruction. It is necessary in 
view of this policy of closely relating kindergarten work and 
first-grade work for the supervisor in the public school system 
to give a good deal of attention to the training of the young 



26 



SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 



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THE TEACHERS 27 

women who come from the private kindergarten school in the 
city. It is regarded by the School Officers as desirable to em- 
ploy for kindergarten work the young women who have been 
trained in the city. This policy makes it all the more important 
that supervision and training be in sympathy. Under these con- 
ditions, it would be wise for the city to take over in a much 
larger degree the supervision of training. The number of kinder- 
gartners who are added to the system each year is relatively 
small, but it is of crucial importance that they be trained in the 
right way to co-operate with the primary grades. There is no 
justification for a kindergarten which is an isolated part of the 
school system. Grand Rapids has avoided this mistake so far 
as the treatment of the pupils is concerned. It ought to take no 
risks in the training of its teachers. It is perfectly evident that 
the present kindergarten teachers, while they are all high-school 
graduates, are being taken into the system with less advanced 
training than other classes of teachers. Their training is special 
and technical in an institution that does not rank as a normal 
school. Very few of them have any higher training than that 
which is given by this institution. 

Experience of Kindergartners 

This statement with regard to the kindergarten teachers can 
be re-enforced by reference to Table VIII, which shows the 
amount of experience which these kindergarten teachers have. 
Especially does this table show that the local experience of the 

TABLE VIII 

Years of Experience in Grand Rapids (Local) and in both Grand 
Rapids and elsewhere of the Kindergarten Teachers, together with the 
Number having each Specified Period of Experience. 

Median* 
Total 0-2 3-5 6-10 11-15 16-20 21-25 26-30 31-35 No. of 
No. years years years years years years years years years 

Local Experience 63 16 12 17 7 5 5 1 6.2 

Total Experience 63 15 12 17 7 5 5 1 1 6.5 

* Median is that quantity above and below which half the cases are to be found. 

kindergartners is practically the same as their total experience. 
Furthermore, the ,great majority of them have had a relatively 
brief experience. Indeed, as will be seen by a comparison of this 
table with the tables immediately succeeding, the experience of 
this class of teachers is the least of any class in the city. Espec- 
ially should the experience of the kindergartners as presented in 
this table be contrasted with the experience of the primary 
teachers in Table XL It will then be seen that the primary 
teachers, whatever the limitations on their institutional training, 



28 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

have had a great deal more experience than the kindergartners. 
The kindergarten teachers are evidently young women selected 
with deference to the demand that residents of Grand Rapids be 
employed for this division of the school. 

Experience of High-School Teachers of Academic Subjects 

The next tables deal with the experience of the various 
classes of teachers who have already been discussed from the 
point of view of their training. The impressive fact about these 
tables is the large amount of experience which they show on the 
part of many teachers. Thus Table IX, which shows the length 
of experience of the high-school teachers of academic subjects is 
very striking in its showing of long tenure of office. Only twelve 
teachers out of the 89 reporting in this table have had less than 
five years of experience in teaching. The table as a w^hole shows 
that the teaching staff of Grand Rapids is relatively permanent 
in its tenure, and it indicates that in this degree the advantages 
that come from a permanent organization are found in the school 
system of this city. The opposite type of criticism is suggested 
by the very long tenure which is exhibited in a few cases. The 
observations of the survey staff gave no ground for the presenta- 
tion of this criticism. The probability that a pension law will be 
enacted in Michigan is of importance in this connection. The 
city of Grand Rapids can well afford to support such a measure. 
It will aid in maintaining the favorable type of organization 
which is exhibited in the table, while guarding against the 
dangers of over-long tenure. 

One other point may be brought out in connection with this 
table. The local experience of these teachers as contrasted with 
their total experience shows that many of them have served for 
several years in other schools. This, when coupled with long 
tenure is not a disadvantage to the school system, because ser- 
vice in other school systems will redound to the advantage of the 
Grand Rapids schools by bringing to these schools many sug- 
gestions which come from the examples of other systems. 

Experience of Teachers of Special Subjects 

Table X shows the period of experience of teachers of spe- 
cial subjects. The length of experience of these teachers is in 
sharp contrast with the length of experience of the academic 
teachers. The teachers of ungraded and defective children should 
perhaps not be included in a table of this sort. ■ They are virtually 
elementary teachers who have been transferred to a special func- 
tion. In any case, however, the table shows that the length of 



THE TEACHERS 



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THE TEACHERS 31 

service of special teachers is relatively very short. A full dis- 
cussion of the difficulties of organizing these special courses was 
given above and need not be repeated at this point. Everything 
that was said at that time is emphatically confirmed by this table. 

Experience of Grade Teachers. 

Table XI shows the length of service of the grade teachers. 
In discussing the table showing the training of grade teachers, 
comment was made on the limited training of teachers in the 
first and sixth grades. It will be seen from a study of this table 
that a number of the teachers in both of these grades are teach- 
ers of long experience. Many of them evidently are teachers 
who entered the school system at the time when the requirement 
was not as high as it has been in recent years. 

One other fact which was pointed out in discussing the table 
of kindergarten teachers should be referred to again. Teachers 
in the first and second grades are among the mature teachers of 
the system. As pointed out before, this is in marked contrast 
with the relatively slight preparation and small experience of the 
kindergarten teachers. 

Location of Less Experienced Teachers 

This table shows very clearly where the younger and less 
experienced teachers are placed in the grades. The third and 
fourth grades haye the younger teachers of the system. This is 
in keeping with the general practice of schools all over, the 
United States. In the judgment of the present writer it is a 
very bad practice. Children in the fourth grade are passing 
through an important period in their educational careers. They 
have just consummated the work of the primary grades. They 
have learned to read and write and use the fundamental arithme- 
tical processes. They are now ready for a new type of training, 
and they ought to get this training under teachers who can give 
them the very best of attention and the most skillful guidance. 
The fact is that the middle grades in the elementary schools all 
over the United States have been treated as grades in which 
drills are to be greatly emphasized. This emphasis on drill has 
been overdone. With the re-organization which is going on in 
many school system and especially in Grand Rapids, looking 
toward the termination of the elementary course in the strict 
sense of the word at the end of the sixth year, it is doubly im- 
portant that the fourth and fifth grades should be made subjects 
of very careful study. Some of the criticisms of the teaching 
of reading which will appear in the later chapter on this subject 



Z2 



SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 



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THE TEACHERS 33 

attach very definitely to this period in the school work. It is 
important, therefore, that the teaching staff be improved at this 
point. So far as length of service is an accompanying character- 
istic of high technical ability, there should be a change at this 
point. In any case, the supervisory officers of the system should 
give large attention to this part of the school system just be- 
cause its problems are difficult and the present teaching staff is 
less experienced than the teaching staff at other points in the 
schools. 

Experience and Training of Principals 

Table XII shows the experience of the principals. In gene- 
ral the principal of an elementary school in Grand Rapids and in 
other cities has secured his or her position after service as a 
teacher in the system. The result is that in all the school sys- 
tems of the United States, the principals exhibit, as they do in 
this table, long periods of service. This in itself is certainly not 
objectionable. It gives promise of mature ability to deal with 
school problems. Long experience, however, is a virtue only 
when it is accompanied by continued training. The table of the 
training of the elementary-school principals has been postponed 
to this point in order that the contrast between the principals 
and the teachers in the schools might be made as pointed as 
possible. Table XIII gives the training of the principals of all 
the schools. The institutional training of the elementary prin- 
cipals is inferior. It ought to be remarked at once that some of 
the prmcipals have kept up study during their term of service, but 
it is legitimate that the demand for such continued training be 
made very emphatic. The problem of supervising a school 
building is a very much more complex problem than the prob- 
lem of giving instruction to a group of children. Supervision 
calls for a knowledge of school organization which is very com- 
prehensive. It is coming to be recognized everywhere in the 
school systems that supervision is not merely the final stage of 
teaching. ,It is a distinct and more elaborate art. The compe- 
tent supervisor must know something about how to test the work 
of the children and the teachers in the grades. The supervisor 
must know how to keep teachers in service actively engaged in 
increasing their equipment for school work. All of these de- 
mands point very emphatically to the necessity of special techni- 
cal training for supervision. The principals of the Grand Rapids 
schools are in many cases vigorous, competent supervisors. In 
some cases they are in need of more training than they now have. 

Indeed, the point in the school system of Grand Rapids 
where a conscious effort to improve is most urgently needed is 



34 



SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 



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THE TEACHERS 35 

among the elementary principals. They need to study the meth- 
ods of supervision which are based on scientific tests. Many of 
them have at the present time scant sympathy with scientific 
work in education. The city has a right to demand much of 
these principals which is not included in mere routine. 

Continued Study on the Part of Teachers 

It may be urged in general that all teachers keep up their 
studies. It used to be thought of as relatively unnecessary for a 
school system to make the requirement that teachers continue 
their studies. It was assumed that teachers had by nature or 
training such studious habits that they would, without any out- 
side pressure, continue to read and study new subjects. It has 
been discovered, however, that whatever a teacher's training, the 
school systems must contribute by some legitimate professional 
stimulus the motive for strenuous self-improvement, which, in 
the other professions, is supplied through competition. A doctor 
and a lawyer cannot long hold positions of pre-eminence in a 
community unless they keep up their studies and thus keep them- 
selves abreast of the advances in their professions. The teacher 
does not encounter competition in the same fashion as members 
of other professions. Some explicit encouragement on the part 
of the school system must therefore be put forth to encourage 
a continuation of systematic study on the part of all members of 
the teaching staff. 



CHAPTER II 

NON- PROMOTIONS AND FAILURES 
IN THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS 



The progress of pupils through the grades has been a subject 
of intensive study in many of the school systems of the United 
States for the last few years. The general method adopted in 
making this study is to note the ages of the pupils in the different 
grades and by a comparison of these age-grade statistics to 
determine whether the children are getting through the schools 
in the normal length of time or are delayed in their progress 
because of failures or incidental difficulties arising from transfer 
or absence. 

Age-Grade Tables Not Repeated 

Such studies of age-grade statistics have drawn attention 
to the importance of devising in the school system some means 
of accelerating the movements of students through the grades. 
In view of the fact that the report of the superintendent of 
schools of Grand Rapids has for some years given attention to 
these age-grade statistics, no effort will be made in this report 
to recanvass the matter by that method. 

The statistics published annually show that retardation, that 
is the holding back of children in the grades, has been progres- 
sively checked. There is still opportunity to improve the con- 
ditions for those pupils who do better than average work and 
ought therefore to move more rapidly than do the average. It is 
highly desirable that such strong students go forward as rapidly 
as possible. The matter is one which touches very intimately 
all phases of school work and this report suggests that the ad- 
ministration organize a committee of teachers and principals for 
the study of the possibilities within the Grand Rapids system 
of more attention to the acceleration of pupils. Most of the find- 
ings of this survey could be focused on this general problem. 



NON-PROMOTIONS AND FAILURES 37 

Elimination of Defectives 

In the meantime this report turns to a complete account of 
those cases where the school operations have, for some reason or 
other, failed of their normal goal, namely, the advancement of 
the pupils through the grades at the regular rate of one-half 
grade each semester. Whenever a pupil fails of promotion, there 
is clear evidence that the school and the pupil have not succeeded 
in accomplishing the task which was set for them. In some cases 
the failure of the child is inevitable because his natural capacity 
is so small that he cannot do the work of the grade. Grand Rap- 
ids has made provision for students who are of such limited 
capacity that they cannot carry on the regular work of the 
schools. A special report on this group of students by Professor 
Charles S. Berry, of the University of Michigan, is presented in 
a later chapter. The elimination from the regular classes of 
children who are of abnormally low ability is a distinct advantage 
to the school system. It removes from the classes the difficulties 
that arise through the presence of children unable to carry the 
course of study, and it provides for the defective children a type 
of training better suited to their needs. 

Reasons for Non-promotion 

The remaining children in the school system presumably 
have a natural capacity which ought to make it possible for them 
to go through the course of study administered in the grade with- 
out serious delay. There are, to be sure, legitimate reasons why 
delay must be suffered in individual cases even when the child's 
ability is normal. A child who is sick during half of the year, 
for example, ought, in some cases, to spend some time during 
the next following year making up the loss. Some children do 
not work and should be penalized. 

When one has considered all of the legitimate reasons for 
non-promotion of children in the grades, there remains a very 
considerable margin of failure for which the school itself must 
assume responsibility. If the course of study is not appropriate 
to the needs of children, failure will result. This failure, while 
it expresses itself in the form of a lack of interest on the part of 
the child in the work which he is doing, is traceable in reality not 
to any defect in the child but to a failure on the part of the school 
to meet his legitimate requirements and his natural interests. 
Formerly the school took the attitude that every failure was 
chargeable to the child. It was assumed that the course of 
study gave infallibly the best training in every case. Students 
of education are coming to realize more and more that an inflex- 



38 



SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 



ible course of study is not legitimate in a public educational 
system which requires the attendance of all children. If the 
law requires a boy to go to the fourth grade, there ought to be 
some effort in that grade to see that he gets a type of training 
that will be useful to him. To be sure, there must be a certain 
degree of insistence that he conform to the general requirements 




DIAGRAM I — Percentage of Non-promotions in each grade of the Grand Rapids 
Schools for the years 1913-14 and 1914-15. 



NON-PROMOTIONS AND FAILURES 39 

which have been set up for children of his age, but this insistence 
must not be enforced without due regard to his personality and 
his future. 

It is such considerations as these that have led superintend- 
ents and teachers in recent years to canvass again and again the 
course of study and to look for possible modifications which will 
relieve the course of undesirable material or bring in new mater- 
ial which will make the course more productive for the later 
life of the pupils. A full consideration of the course of study will 
appear in a later section of this report by Professor J. F. Bobbitt. 
The purpose of the present chapter is to prepare the way for the 
subsequent studies of the subjects of instruction by making it 
as clear as possible that the school must face as one of its grave 
problems every case of failure. 

Percentages of Non-promotions in the Various Grades 

Diagram P shows the percentages of non-promotions in each 
of the grades. The diagram should be interpreted as follows : 
In two successive years the percentages of non-promotion in the 
1-1 grade were 20 and 19 respectively. This large failure in the 
primary grade is to be explained by the fact that many children 
enter school at an age when they are too immature to succeed in 
the work of the school. Some of them come from homes where 
they do not have the preliminary training which makes it pos- 
sible for them to take up school work with success. Further- 
more, during the earlier grades the defective children are in the 
process of separation from the classes. 

After the first half year, the situation improves very rap- 
idly for we find that in the 1-2 grade the percentage of failures 
has decreased to 14 and 13. In the first half of the second grade 
failures are at about the same level as failures in the last half of 
the first grade. In the later grades there is still further im- 
provement with some irregularities. 

The irregularities show maladjustment of some kind. Es- 
pecially noticeable is the difference between the two years in the 
treatment of the sixth grades. The striking difference between 
the records of the two successive years calls for close study as 
does also the difference between the two years in the III-l 
grade and the V-I grade. 

The diagram as a whole shows a relatively low rate of mor- 
tality. The evidence here and throughout the various studies of 
particular subjects all goes to show that the schools are compar- 
atively successful with their pupils. There remains, however, 

*Full details in these matters are given in Tables XIV and XV. 



40 



SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 



a large opportunity for special study of particular subjects, as 
will be shown by the later diagrams in this chapter. Further- 
more, whatever the present condition, improvement is desirable. 

Failures in Reading and Arithmetic 

The significance of the plea for improvement comes out very 
clearly if the records of failures in reading and arithmetic are 
contrasted with each other. In order to secure the material for 
these two diagrams, the school records were canvassed for all 
of the reports of failures in the particular subjects. If a child 
fails in one subject in a given grade, he is not necessarily held 
back from promotion because of that single failure. There ap- 



i 



Grade 1-1 1-2 2-1 2-2 3-1 3-2 4-1 4-2 5-1 5-2 6-1 6-2 7-1 7-2 8-1 8-2 

1914-15 

1913-14 

DIAGRAM II — Percentage of Failures in Reading in each grade of the Grand Rapids 
Schools for the years 1913-14 and 1914-15. 



NON-PROMOTIONS AND FAILURES 



41 




DIAGRAM III— Percentage of Failures in Arithmetic in each grade of the Grand 
Rapids Schools for the years 1913-14 and 1914-15. 



42 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

pear, therefore, in the records to which we now turn more fail- 
ures'in particular subjects than non-promotions in general in the 
various grades. These failures in particular subjects are, how- 




1913-14 



DIAGRAM IV-Percentage of Failures in Geography in Each Grade of the Grand 
Rapids Schools for the Years 1913-14 and 1914-15. 



NON-PROMOTIONS AND FAILURES 



43 



ever, of great importance in determining the success of the 
course of study. 

Diagrams II and III show the percentage of failures in read- 
ing and arithmetic respectively. The reading curve shows a 
steady falling off in the number of failures in this subject after 
the II-l grade. This steady falling off in failures is what we 
should expect in any subject which is carried through the grades 
and is uniformly successful in its training of the pupils. Arith- 
metic, on the other hand, shows a very serious and continuous 
succession of high percentages of failure from the II-l grade to 
the VIII-1 grade. Indeed, there can be no question that arith- 
metic is the greatest single source of failures in the grades of the 
Grand Rapids schools. 



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Grade 1-1 1-2 2-1 2-2 3-1 3-2 4-1 4-2 5-1 5-2 6-1 6-2 7-1 7-2 8-1 8-2 

1914-15 

1913-14 

DIAGRAM V — Percentage of Failures in History in Each Grade of the Grand Rapids 
Schools for the years 1913-14 and 1914-15. 



44 



SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 



When a course of study produces the percentage of failures 
here reported for arithmetic, the warning to school officers is 
loud and clear, whatever may be the satisfactory showing of the 
pupils in tests. The percentages of failure in arithmetic show 
that there should be a careful study of possibilities of revision 
with a view to bringing the subject nearer to the comprehension 



it 



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ttia 



St 



Grade 1-1 1-2 2-1 2-2 3-1 3-2 4-1 4-2 5-1 5-2 6-1 6-2 7-1 7-2 8-1 8-2 

1914-15 

1913-1-4 

DIAGRAM VI — Percentage of Failures in Language in each grade of the Grand 
Rapids Schools for the years 1913-14 and 1914-15. 



NON-PROMOTIONS AND FAILURES 



45 



of the children in the various grades or to making it enough 
more interesting so that the children will devote to it the kind of 
intellectual effort that will insure success. When a course is 
carried on at a level where children fail to the extent of 18 to 20 
per cent year after year, there must be something wrong in the 
relation between the children and the school system. 

Failures in Other Subjects 

The curves for the other subjects may be commented on 
briefly. Geography is evidently a serious obstacle to the pro- 




Grade 1-1 1-2 2-1 2-2 3-1 3-2 4-1 4-2 5-1 S-2 6-1 6-2 7-1 7-2 8-1 8-2 

1914-15 

: 1913-14 

DIAGRAM VII — Percentage of Failures in Handwork in each grade of the Grand 
Rapids Schools for the years 1913-14 and 1914-15. 




Grade 1-1 1-2 2-1 2-2 3-1 3-2 4-1 4-2 5-1 5-2 6-1 6-2 7-1 7-2 8-1 8-2 

1914-15 

1913-14 

DIAGRAM VIII — Percentage of Failures in Physiology in each grade of the Grand 
Rapids Schools for the years 1913-14 and 1914-15. 



46 



SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 



gress of children between the IV-2 grade and the VII-1 grade. 
In a later part of this report it will be pointed out that the read- 
ing taught in the Grand Rapids schools does not train the child- 
ren in the use of the printed page as fully as it should. The fail- 
ures in geography are doubtless to be traced in many cases to 
difficulties in reading. Many children do not know how to get 
their lessons because their training in reading has been too form- 
al. In some measure this same statement applies also to the 
difficulties encountered in arithmetic. Difficulties in arithmetic 
are frequently due to the fact that children do not know how to 
interpret the problems that are set down in the book. The fail- 
ures in arithmetic, and still more, those in geography, make it 
clear that there are unsolved problems in the course of study in 
the grades. 



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Grade 1-1 1-2 2-1 2-2 3-1 3-2 4-1 4-2 5-1 5-2 6-1 6-2 7-1 7-2 8-1 8-2 

1914-15 

1913-14 

DIAGRAM IX — Percentage of Failures in Spelling in each grade of the Grand Rapids 
Schools for the years 1913-14 and 1914-15. 



NON-PROMOTIONS AND FAILURES 



47 



History shows a sudden rise of failures in the seventh grade 
and in one of the years in the VIII-1 grade. In langauge we 
have a record which is in some respects the complement of the 
record in reading. ^ This would seem to indicate the necessity of a 
very careful scrutiny of the work which is progressively required 
of the grades in language. 

Handwork and physiology appear to be in a class entirely 
by themselves. They are probably not treated as very serious 
requirements for promotion. In handwork the large amount of 
supervision which is given to the work of each child may help 
to remove the dangers of failure in the course. 

The record in spelling is interesting. The- difficulties here 



Grade 1-1 1-2 2-1 2-2 3-1 3-2 4-1 4-2 5-1 5-2 6-1 6-2 7-1 7-2 8-1 8-2 

1914-15 

1913-14 

DIAGRAM X — Percentage of Conditional Promotions in Each Grade of the Grand 
Rapids Schools for the year 1913-1914 and 1914-15. 



48 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

do not seem to be as great as in arithmetic but they continue 
throughout the school course without much relief from grade 
to grade. There are also some impressive irregularities in this 
record from year to year which would seem to indicate that the 
spelling course needs attention. 

Percentages of Conditional Promotion 

One important reason why these failures in particular sub- 
jects do not result in more non-promotions is to be found in the 
system adopted in Grand Rapids of promoting children on trial. 
The technical formula is "promoted without recommendation." 
Diagram X* shows the extent to which promotions of this type 
are made in the various grades. 

This diagram shows that all through the schools about one 
child in eight, in addition to those who fail to be promoted, is in 
trouble with the course of study either because his own work is 
deficient or else because the course is not adapted to his needs. 
A study of these cases of children who are promoted on trial 
show that the great majority of them ultimately succeed in doing 
the work of the grade into which they are advanced. In the 
first semester of 1913-14 out of 600 children only 96 or 16 per 
cent failed of promotion at the end of the semester. Forty-seven 
per cent or 284 were promoted at the end of the semester without 
condition. One hundred ninety-five of them continued on con- 
dition but were advanced at the end of the semester. Twenty- 
five of them were not reported upon fully because they left the 
city or were lost sight of in transfer. In the second semester of 
the same year there were 584 children promoted on trial. One 
hundred or 17 per cent failed of promotion at the end of the 
semester. Forty-nine per cent were promoted ; 30 per cent were 
continued on condition and 4 per cent were lost in the calcula- 
tion. Evidently this system of promotion on trial serves to cor- 
rect some of the serious difficulties which arise in the adminis- 
tration of the course of study. Children are not held back in 
many cases where there is evidently reasonable probability of 
their meeting the requirements of the course. 

Attitude of Teachers on Conditional Promotions 

The attitude of different teachers in regard to these trial 
promotions can be discussed on the basis of a questionnaire 
which was sent out to all of them asking for a statement of the 
grounds on which they promoted students without recommenda- 

*Also Table XV. 



NON-PROMOTIONS AND FAILURES 49 

tion. They were asked to indicate the considerations which in 
their minds were of first importance and those which were of 
secondary importance. Three hundred and seventeen teachers 
repHed to the inquiry. One hundred and forty indicated that the 
age of the pupils is a major consideration in promotion without 
recommendation. Two hundred and ten indicated that the length 
of time which the pupil has been in a grade is a major consider-" 
ation. On the other hand, only three teachers regard deportment 
as a major consideration, and only seventy-seven regard the 
length of time that a pupil expects to remain in school as of im- 
portance. One hundred and thirty-six indicate that general 
scholarship is one of the important considerations even though 
failure appears in special lines. 

Judging from these figures we may say that the child's age 
and the length of time he has been in school weigh with teachers 
as direct reasons for advancing pupils. This means that when 
the question arises whether a child shall stay in a grade for an- 
other year or go on, the non-scholastic consideration of the 
desirability of his going forward with his companions weighs 
heavily. If the judgment of the teachers is correct in these cases 
and if scholarship ought to be relegated to a secondary position 
in the discussion, then there is all the more reason for empha- 
sizing the necessity of a careful consideration of the course of 
study. The promotion of a child because he has been in a grade 
for some time can be justified only if we assume that he ought 
to be allowed to go on and get a new type of work after he has 
done the best that he can. Some teachers frankly take this posi- 
tion and some school systems have modified the course of study 
administered to a given child on the explicit ground that pro- 
motion is a matter of age rather than a matter of scholastic 
achievement. 

Probably a compromise between the two extreme positions 
represents the legitimate solution of the problem. A child who 
is growing old in one of the lower grades is certainly embar- 
rassed by the difiference between his size and maturity and the 
size and maturity of the other members of the grade. If the 
course of study continues to hold him back in spite of his gene- 
ral normal intelligence, probably the course of study ought to be 
modified. It is much more legitimate to attempt a modification 
of the course of study than merely to send the pupil on without 
undertaking any changes in the course of study which will adapt 
the work to his needs, or to make him go over again under un- 
favorable conditions work in which he has once failed. 

There are a number of incidental comments made by the 
teachers in reporting^ on the reasons for promotion without 



50 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

recommendation which it may be of interest to reproduce in this 
report, indicating at once the complexity of the problem of pro- 
motion and the desirability of standardizing the judgments of 
teachers throughout the system. Several teachers report that the 
pupil's attitude and effort at application should be taken into 
account whatever the outcome of his work. Some call attention 
to the importance of giving children of foreign nationalities an 
opportunity to go on even if they do not succeed in their work 
because of their lack of command of English. In many cases 
health considerations are mentioned. Several teachers indicate 
that they believe in giving the pupils a fresh start by promoting 
them in spite of failure. A number of teachers take the position 
quite explicitly that conditional promotion is not desirable and 
that there ought to be unconditional promotion or no promotion 
at all. 



Need of Principles to Govern Non-promotions 

These statements serve to illustrate the necessity of a clearer 
definition of the grounds of promotion or failure in all of the 
schools. Furthermore, if we scrutinize the detailed records of 
particular grades or even of whole school buildings, we shall find 
that there are marked differences in the non-promotions in differ- 
ent parts of the city. Some of these differences are undoubtedly 
to be explained by the fact that the children themselves repre- 
sent different social and intellectual conditions. Many of the 
non-promotions, however, cannot be explained on this ground 
and call for a careful consideration on the part of all of the 
schools of the fundamental principles that underlie non-promo- 
tion. 



Investigation of Non-promotion by Bureau of Census 

The Bureau of Census and Statistics of the Grand Rapids 
schools made an investigation last year of the causes of non- 
promotion throughout the schools. The following statement 
from the officer in charge of that Bureau shows the different 
kinds of causes which were pointed out by the teachers. 

"Herewith I am submitting to you results of the first study of 
causes leading to non-promotion. The study includes all regular public 
classes from I-l to VIII-2 inclusive; and excludes all non-promotions 
occurring in ungraded or special classes of any nature whatever. 

"The total number of non-promotions reported was 1,222. This is 
11.23 per cent of the actual number (10,882) on the rolls at the end of 
the semester. 

"Of the 1,222 non-promotions reported on the class records, 1,171 



NON-PROMOTIONS AND FAILURES 51 

explanations (96%) were available and these are classified for causes 
as follows: 

"32.80 Ordinary Dullness 

16.70 Lack of Application 

12.40 Sickness 

9.13 Immaturity 

4.50 Kept at Home 

4.27 Change of School 

4.10 Specific Ailment (111 Health in School) 

2.80 Foreign to English 

2.30 General 111 Health 

2.30 Unwise promotion 

2.13 Home Conditions Discourage Study 

1.53 Late Start 

1.53 Wrong Sort of Class, Course, or School 

1.20 Wrong Attitude 

.90 Timidity 

.68 Overcrowded class 

.34 Incorrigibility 

.30 Employment 

.09 Discouragement." 

It is interesting to note that most of the reasons here set 
down for non-promotion hold the child responsible for the fail- 
ure. The assumption which is implicit in this statement that the 
course of study is certainly all right and is adapted to the needs 
of the children is an assumption which must be criticised as 
beyond question over-optimistic. It has been the purpose of 
this chapter to show this by a comparison of the different sub- 
jects. This chapter ought to suggest to every teacher in the 
system such questions as this : if "ordinary dullness" is the 
reason for most of the non-promotions, why does ordinary dull- 
ness not exhibit itself in reading as frequently as it does in arith- 
metic. Ordinary dullness has curious ways of cropping out in 
spots. It would appear from the details presented in this chapter 
that ordinary dullness is probably a general category used by 
teachers who have not studied carefully the real causes of fail- 
ure on the part of the pupils in the grades. 

Divergencies in Practices of Schools 

Close attention should be given in each of the schools to the 
practice of the school itself as compared with the general practice 
of the whole system. Tables XIV and XV show the percentages 
of non-promotions and promotions on trial for each of the schools 
in the city system. Several typical cases have been selected and 
are represented in diagrams XI-XV. These diagrams show dif- 
ferent levels of non-promotion in different schools and different 
types of treatment of the different grades. The diagrams will 
doubtless be intelligible to any reader who has examined the 



52 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 



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NON-PROMOTIONS AND FAILURES 



53 



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SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 



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NON-PROMOTIONS AND FAILURES 



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SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 



earlier diagrams in this chapter. No special comment is neces- 
sary in explanation of each of the diagrams. It is suggested that 
the principals ought to make a careful study of their own build- 
ings using the methods here suggested and they ought to confer 
with their teachers until they succeed in developing a well-defined 
policy which will stand the test of comparison and analysis. 




DIAGRAM XI — Percentage of Non-promotions in each grade of the Sigsbee School 
for the years 1913-14 and 1914-15. 




Grade 1-1 1-2 2-1 2-2 3-1 3-2 4-1 4-2 5-1 5-2 6-1 6-2 7-1 7-2 8-1 
1914-15 



1913-1 

DIAGRAM XII — Percentage of Non-promotions in each grade of the Diamond School 
for the years 1913-14 and 1914-15. 




Grade 



1.1 1-2 2-1 2.2 3-1 3.2 4-1 4-2 5-1 5-2 6-1 6-2 7.1 7.2 8-1 8-2 



1913 



1914-15 



DIAGRAM XIII— Percentage of Non-Promotions in Each Grade of the Union School 
for the years 1913-14 and 1914-15. 



NON-PROMOTIONS AND FAILURES 



59 




DIAGRAM XIV — Percentage of Non-promotions in each grade of the Lafayette School 
for the years 1913-14 and 1914-15. 




DIAGRAM XV — Percentage of Non-promotions in each grade of the Madison School 
for the years 1913-14 and 1914-15. 



CHAPTER III 

INTRODUCTION TO TESTS 



The chapters immediately following present in detail the 
results of a number of tests which were tried in the elementary 
schools. These tests are not in any sense of the word exhaustive. 
They do not deal with all phases of elementary-school work. 
They do, however, select certain examples of this work which it 
is possible to evaluate with a good deal of precision. Only the 
more formal phases of school work are susceptible to quantitative 
evaluation. The tests emphasize, therefore, the formal elements 
of school work. 

It has sometimes been objected to tests that they do not get 
at the essential phases of instruction. The answer to this state- 
ment is that long experience has shown that the best schools 
accomplish not only the higher instruction of pupils but also 
provide them with the formal elements of all of the subjects. 
Good schools always show good records in these tests. Where- 
ever there is a failure to attend to the details of instruction 
there is always an essential deficiency in the work itself. To be 
sure there are cases where these details are attended to, but 
where the school suffers from formalism in the instruction. A 
high rank in a formal test does not, therefore, mean in every 
case excellent work in the school. The tests in reading overcome 
to a very high degree the difficulty here pointed out. The results 
of all the tests are offered, therefore, as examples of what the 
schools are achieving in their classroom work. If these samples 
of their work are good, it may be assumed that in general the 
work is of a satisfactory type. 

In the second place, the tests throw light on the possibilities 
of reorganizing and enlarging in detail the instruction in the par- 
ticular subjects with which the tests deal. It is hoped that the 
suggestions which are offered in the succeeding chapters may 
serve to stimulate a general consideration of the courses of study 
for the purpose of adjusting these courses in all their stages to 
the needs of pupils. 



CHAPTER IV 

READING 



William S. Gray 



As shown in the chapter on non-promotion and failures, read- 
ing is a subject in which steady improvement is recorded through- 
out the grades. In testing reading, therefore, we shall be able to 
determine not only the degree of success attained in this particu- 
lar subject, but we shall also deal with a very fundamental part 
of the course of study and one which, in the judgment of the 
teachers, is well done. 

Furthermore, the chapter on curriculum emphasizes frojn 
another point of view the great importance of reading as a part 
of the course of study. 

This chapter will be devoted to a report on systematic tests 
carried on throughout the grades. For this purpose, certain 
passages were used which have been carefull}^ graded to suit the 
abilities of school children, and have been given to pupils in a 
number of other school systems. A double advantage arises 
from the use of material which has thus been rated by previous 
use. First, the material is standardized and, second, the earlier 
studies yield comparative results which may be used to supple- 
ment the results obtained in Grand Rapids. 

These standard passages must be used, if the results are to 
be exact, under conditions that are as nearly uniform as possible. 
To this end the principals were called into conference and were 
given a demonstration and explanation of the tests. During the 
week of the testing, the writer circulated among the schools and 
saw the reading in the classes and also observed some of the test- 
ing. The tests were given by the principals themselves and by 
their assistants, usually in the principal's office where the work 
was free from the distraction of class work. 

Finally, it has been shown in earlier studies made in other 
schools, that the distinction between oral and silent reading is a 
distinction of first importance. This distinction was observed 



REABING 63 

in the standard tests and will be emphasized throughout the 
chapter. Justification for this distinction will come out more fully 
in later paragraphs. For the purposes of introduction, it is 
enough to remark that the importance of silent reading is not 
recognized as fully as it should be. In the primary grades of the 
elementary school special emphasis has usually been given to 
oral reading. This type of reading proves to be appropriate and 
economical during that period in which the pupil is mastering 
the fundamental steps in reading. During the intermediate and 
upper grades the pupil is frequently called upon to read orally 
in connection with many class exercises. On the other hand, the 
pupil soon learns to use reading as a means of securing ideas for 
himself and he substitutes silent study for oral reproduction. 
During the larger part of his school life the progress of a pupil 
depends upon his ability to master the thought of the printed 
page during periods of silent study. Furthermore, under most 
ordinary situations of life, one reads silently for the purpose of 
gathering ideas and not for the purpose of oral exhibition. With 
this recognition of the very great importance of silent reading it 
is quite clear that the quality of instruction in reading must be 
determined upon the basis of achievement both in oral reading 
and in silent reading. 

Tests in Oral Reading 

Oral reading tests were given to 4,066 pupils in thirty-seven 
schools. They were distributed among the grades from the first 
to the eighth as follows : 

666 first-grade pupils 
609 second-grade pupils 
553 third-grade pupils 
555 fourth-grade pupils 
507 fifth-grade pupils 
494 sixth-grade pupils 
386 seventh-grade pupils 
296 eighth-grade pupils 

The advanced section of each grade represented in the above- 
mentioned schools was tested. In general, between 15 and 20 
pupils were tested in each section. This number is sufficiently 
large to justify somewhat rigid comparisons between the achieve- 
ments of different classes. 

The oral reading test consisted of a series of twelve passages 
arranged in the order of increasing difficulty. As each child was 
reading a record was made of the number of seconds required 
to read each paragraph and of the number of errors which were 
made of the following types : 

(a) Gross mispronunciations, which include such errors in 



64 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

pronunciation as indicate clearly that the word is too difficult 
for the pupil to pronounce. 

(b) Minor mispronunciations, which include the mispro- 
nunciation of a portion of a word, wrong accent, wrong syllabi- 
cation , omission of syllables, etc. 

(c) Omission of words. 

(d) Insertion of words. 

(e) Repetition of words or groups of words. 

(f) Substitution of one word or group of words for another. 
Furthermore the principals who gave the tests made a recor^i 

of the quality of the reading in terms of a. h. or c. If the read- 
ing was very well done, this fact was indicated by placing an a 
before the paragraph. If, on the other hand, the reading was 
very poorly done from the standpoint of expression, the fact was 
indicated by placing a c above the paragraph. These records 
of qusility show that the time records and records of errors can 
be relied on as satisfactory measures of the child's reading abil- 
ity. In nearly every case a pupil received a quality mark of a 
if the paragraph was read at a normal rate with not more than 
one or two errors. On the other hand, as the number of errors 
increased and as the rate decreased the quality mark which was 
recorded was h. or c. These results suggest that when pupils 
read very poorly, the reason may be sought in the fact that they 
are assigned material which presents too many difficulties for 
them. 

The oral reading scores which are used in this report are 
calculated on the basis of the time required to read a paragraph 
and the number of errors made. The reducation of each child's 
record to a simple numerical statement is based on a system of 
scoring which turns into quantitative terms the fact that a para- 
graph should be read in a certain amount of time with a limited 
number of errors. If, now, the pupil exceeds the amount of time 
which has been found in earlier investigations to be common and 
if the number of errors increase, the amount of credit which 
he gets for reading a paragraph should be proportionately re- 
duced. The total score for an individual is found by calculating 
the total amount of credit due the pupil on all the paragraphs 
which were read. The average class score is found by calculat- 
ing the arithmetical average of all the individual scores in the 
class. A more detailed description of the test and of the methods 
of scoring may be found in the Elementary School Journal, 
February, 1916. 

The average score for each grade in which the tests were 
given appears in Table XVI. The median'*' and average scores 

*The median score is the score of that individual above and below whose score lie 
half of the class. 



READING 



65 



for each grade are indicated at the foot of the table. These 
average scores are used as the basis for comparison in the dia- 
grams which will follow. 

One further word of explanation is necessary in order that 
the diagrams in which the results are presented may be readily 
understood. Ability to read a certain passage without error 
means less on the part of the pupil in the upper grades than on 




I fi I 1 ri I — I I I I ■! M I I I I I I I I I r 

DIAGRAM XVI — Progress of 4066 pupils in Oral Reading. 



66 



SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 



the part of a pupil in the lower grades. Grades must be com- 
pared with each other, therefore, by recognizing different levels 
of expectation. These different levels as determined from four 
thousand tests, can be expressed graphically as indicated by the 
vertical lines in Diagram XVI. Each vertical line represents 
the scale for a grade and begins below at the point where the 
score of 10 should be represented. Higher scores can be repre- 
sented by appropriate distances along the vertical liqe above 10. 
In Diagram XVI the vertical lines end at the points where the 
score of 70 belongs for each grade. The full drawn oblique lines 
above and below connecting the successive 70's and lO's, respect- 
ively, indicate the curves of progress which would result if in the 
one case all scores were 10 or if in the other case all scores were 



TABLE XVI 

AVERAGE SCORES IN ORAL READING FOR 37 SCHOOLS OF 

GRAND RAPIDS 



First 

SCHOOLS Grade 

Junior 

South 

Union 28 

Alexander 12 

Buchanan 7 

Coit 53 

Coldbrook 11 

Congress 42 

Diamond 43 

East Leonard 54 

Evangeline 

Finney 40 

Fountain 45 

Franklin 6 

Hall 40 

Henry 60 

Ionia _ 

Jefferson 17 

Lafayette 51 

Lexington 27 

Madison 46 

Michigan , 29 

North Division 23 

Oakdale 7 

Palmer 30 

Pine 35 

Plainfield 61 

Sheldon 12 

Sibley 31 

Sigsbee 47 

South Division 7 

Stocking 22 

Straight 38 

45 

Turner 35 

Walker 62 

West Leonard 21 

Widdicomb 11 

7 

Median 35 

Average 35 



Second 
Grade 



32 
42 
37 
47 
44 
52 
42 
47 
36 
39 
58 
40 
46 
53 
48 
47 
49 
54 
47 
44 
49 
32 
39 

44 
47 
44 
42 
50 
41 
32 
52 

46 
41 
44 
53 

44 
44 



Third 
Grade 



53 
47 
42 
54 
52 
47 
50 
54 
39 
44 
46 
33 
44 
46 
47 
51 
45 
53 
54 
33 
44 
52 

47 

41 
46 

47 
47 



Fourth 
Grade 



42 
42 
46 
51 
44 
50 
50 
47 
48 

56 

44 
47 
57 

51 

54 
53 
52 
51 
47 
37 
47 

48 
51 
49 
54 
50 
51 
45 
45 

44 

41 

57 

49 
49 



Fifth 
Grade 



56 

47 
49 

57 

53 
55 
50 
50 
46 

37 
46 

52 
49 
48 
51 
53 
50 

45 

48 



Sixth Seventh Eighth 

Grade Grade Grade 

48 43 49 

46 46 

45 48 48 

45 44 

46 45 



51 



53 



54 



48 



44 



46 



47 47 48 

48 50 41 
54 49 40 



45 



READING 



(n 



DIAGRAM XVII— Average oral reading DIAGRAM XVIII— Average oral reading 

score among 4066 pupils iri Grand Rapids, scores in each grade in all schools and in 

2193 pupils in Cleveland and 1106 pupils two selected schools, 
in Illinois. 



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DIAGRAM XIX — Average oral reading 
scores in each grade in all schools and in 
two selected schools. 



DIAGRAM XX — Average oral reading 
scores in each grade in all schools and in 
two selected schools. 



68 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

70. The dotted line near the middle of the figure represents the 
average score in oral reading of all the schools in Grand Rapids 
which were tested. 

Achievement in Grand Rapids as Compared with 
Cleveland, Ohio 

In Diagram XVII the average achievement in Grand Rapids 
is compared with the average scores of the largest single school 
system thus far tested, namely, the city of Cleveland. The 
diagram shows that in all grades excepting the sixth the average 
scores of Grand Rapids are superior to the corresponding scores 
of Cleveland. This comparison becomes very significant by 
making a further comparison with the average scores of six 
grades of twenty-three schools in Illinois which were tested be- 
fore Cleveland. The contrast in favor of Grand Rapids is even 
stronger than in the case of Cleveland. Furthermore, the tests 
were given in Grand Rapids three months earlier in the school 
year than they were given in Cleveland or in the Illinois schools. 
These facts indicate very clearly that the efficiency of instruction 
in oral reading in Grand Rapids is very high indeed. 

Variations in Schools 

More significant for the improvement of instruction, how- 
ever, is the comparison of the achievement of a number of 
schools with the general average for Grand Rapids itself. Such 
internal comparisons within the system might advantageously 
become a part of the regular routine of supervision. In Diagram 
XVIII the achievements of Sigsbee School and Oakdale School 
are compared with the general average of Grand Rapids. The 
diagram shows that Sigsbee School does very well in all grades. 
The achievement in the first grade is distinctly above the aver- 
age and this superiority is maintained in general throughout the 
grades. Oakdale School, on the other hand, makes a poor start 
in the first grade and fails to rise to the general average of 
achievement at any point. 

In Diagram XIX the achievement of East Leonard School 
and Widdicomb School is compared with the general average. 
The point of significance in connection with this diagram is the 
fact that progress from grade to grade in each school is irregular. 
The type of progress which is here represented is characteristic 
of a large number of schools, as revealed by the scores in Table 
XVI. This situation suggests that there is need of a clearer 
definition of the results which should be secured. Such clearer 



READING 69 

definitions are required in all subjects. They can be worked 
out only when teachers and supervisors come to a full recogni- 
tion of the fact that a school system is properly organized only 
when its different units are working together for well-recognized 
ends. 

Diagram XX shows similar results for Hall School and for 
South Division School. Hall School makes a very fair start in 
the first and second grades, but for some reason follows an ir- 
regular course below the average from the third grade on. South 
Division, on the other hand, makes a poor start during the first 
three grades and then maintains a level above the average from 
the fourth grade on. These results suggest that the work in 
the primary grades at South Division School and in the inter- 
mediate and upper grades at Hall School should be carefully 
examined with a view to finding out the causes of the difficulties 
in these grades.^ 

These typical diagrams can be paralleled by a number of 
schools included in the table. Furthermore, the schools and 
grades of the system should be encouraged to work out periodi- 
cally similar statements of their progress so that they may check 
up their results and secure uniformly high results where now 
there is irregularity and at certain points low achievement. 

Interpretation. 

The tests which were given to the pupils of Grand Rapids 
have shown that the results secured by the city as a whole are 
very satisfactory. Therefore, whatever criticism is offered be- 
cause of failure to secure results must be directed at individual 
schools rather than at the system as a whole. In order to deter- 
mine the causes of the wide variations in the achievement of 
various classes, seventy-four recitations in reading were ob- 
served, and some of the typical observations are here recorded. 

One outstanding difference between the instruction of prim- 
ary classes relates to the relative emphasis which is given to the 
thought of the selection arid to the mechanics of reading by the 
teacher. It is commonly agreed that the problem of first-grade 
reading is to gain a mastery of the fundamentals. This may be 
done by .concentrating attention upon the mechanics of reading 
or by making the mechanics of reading incidental to the mastery 
of the thought. Most of the teachers of Grand Rapids hold the 
view that it is the better plan to begin by making reading a 
thought-getting exercise, inasmuch as pupils should associate 
reading with thought-getting. The teachers concentrate atten- 
tion on the thought side, however, with varying degrees of sue- 



70 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

cess. The following observations illustrate this point. In one 
school the teacher began the lesson with the following questions : 
"What were the little people doing in yesterday's lesson? To 
what kind of place were they going? What do we want when we 
go to a picnic besides a good place to play? This mother had 
planned a surprise for her children. Study the first page to 
yourself to find out what she did. If you find any hard words, 
tell me what they are and I shall write them on the board for our 
study." Such directions and questions gave purpose to the 
reading, stimulated interest and enjoyment, and resulted in 
thoughtful participation in the study of the lesson. 

The opposite kind of results may be illustrated as follows: 
The lesson was introduced by asking the pupils to look at the 
title and tell what the story was about; the new words were 
sounded; each word was worked out analytically. While this 
method may have resulted in the development of some power to 
analyze words, it detracted attention from the thought of the 
story, with the result that the pupils were not interested and they 
were inattentive. The reading which followed was lifeless and 
very poor, indicating that reading was a mechanical, un-inter- 
esting procedure with the class. The type of drill which was 
given in this class should be relegated to some special drill 
period in which word study is made the fundamental problem\ 
Teachers should guard against destroying the pupils' interest 
in reading by conducting the necessary drill exercises during 
periods in which little, if any, reading is done. 

Second and Third Grade Reading 

The high average scores attained by the pupils of the second 
and third grades may be explained by the fact that the pupils of 
these grades have abundant opportunity to read orally. A large 
number of pages are read during each recitation. The vigor 
with which the pupils read and the readiness with which they 
attack new selections indicate that the fundamental phases of 
oral reading have been pretty well mastered by the end of the 
third grade. The variations in the achievement of the classes 
of these grades are accompanied by variations in the spirit and 
methods of the classroom. Fountain School, which ranks very 
high in oral reading achievement, has organized its work with 
great care. The work of the morning is known as literary 
reading, at which time considerable attention is given to mat- 
ters of pronunciation, enunciation, expression, meaning, etc. In 
the afternoon the pupils read primarily for information. This 
reading is done at sight in connection with some problem in 
which the class is interested. At the time that the class was 



READING 71 

visited they were working on the problem of how cotton is 
grown and harvested. The pupils not only read the story, but 
contribute interesting facts which they have discovered outside 
of the classroom and bring in interesting objective materials 
which relate to the problem at hand. At the end of the day the 
pupils write significant sentences based on the work of the hour 
and at the end of the week the pupils write stories based on the 
readings of the past few days. By these devices the information 
to be secured is kept foremost in mind. Whenever it is needed 
the teacher gives effective help on difficult words, but she does 
this in a quiet way so that interest and attention are not taken 
from the main thread of the story. A list is kept of the words 
upon which help is needed and at the close of the exercise or in 
some special drill period these words are emphasized. This type 
of oral reading procedure should be introduced more widely in 
the second and third grades of Grand Rapids. 

In contrast with the illustration just given, the reading reci- 
tations of some of the classes which rank low in the oral reading 
test were lifeless and monotonous. The work of one day did not 
carry over to the next. Attention was centered primarily on the 
pronunciation of words. The recitation was constantly inter- 
rupted to correct minor errors. The pupils read with little in- 
terest and vigor. Principals who find this type of teaching car- 
ried on by teachers under their supervision should begin remed- 
ial measures at once. The teachers should be called together to 
discuss the problems of teaching reading. Demonstration les- 
sons might be taught to illustrate certain points. Plans for 
teaching a given lesson might be outlined and discussed. Inas- 
much as the teachers in a number of the schools are in need of 
help, it is recommended that a series of conferences be carried on 
by teachers of the entire city. These conferences should form 
a clearing house in which the most effective methods of securing 
results in reading will be demonstrated and discussed. Further- 
more, a list of the most successful teachers of reading should be 
made available so that principals could send their teachers who 
are in need of help to visit recitations in reading in schools where 
the work is admittedly good. 

The work in oral reading continues throughout the inter- 
mediate and upper grades. In connection with the discussion 
of silent reading it will be shown that a part of the time now 
given to oral reading in these grades should be devoted to silent 
reading. It is our purpose at present to point out two reasons 
for variations in oral reading achievement in the intermediate 
grades. 



72 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Grade Reading 

In many of the classes which rank low there was clear evi- 
dence that the teacher had made no specific preparation for 
teaching that particular lesson, depending in a vague general 
way for the day's work on her own ability to read and on her 
previous contact with the selection. The purpose of the recita- 
tion was in these cases general and hence vague. Errors were 
indeed corrected and a few suggestions were offered concerning 
the thought of the selection. Whatever comments were made 
by the teacher came to her mind apparently at the moment they 
were offered. These suggestions dealt with details and failed 
to bring into prominence the larger and more significant points 
of the lesson. Recitations conducted in this way do not give 
enough positive instruction. To be guided primarily by the 
demand that errors be corrected is in reality to be dominated by 
a negative aim. Teachers who worked with a vague purpose 
failed to realize that some selections should be read quickly to 
enjoy the story, while other selections should be read w4th a 
greater amount of care to determine the major points and the 
supporting details, to weigh the relative value of the various 
points of the lesson, to get the finer meanings of certain pas- 
sages, or to appreciate certain descriptions and allusions. Un- 
less a teacher makes definite preparation before the reading 
exercise, it is almost certain that she will not appreciate the 
most significant points of the lesson and she will not be able 
to direct the thought of the pupils along the most profitable lines. 
A comparison of the scores which were received by various 
classes with the notes which were made while visiting recitations 
in reading reveals the fact that there is close correlation between 
low scores on the one hand and poor preparation and lack of pur- 
pose by the teacher on the other. 

Another noticeable difference between the work of schools 
which ranked high and schools which ranked low relates to the 
motive or purpose which stimulated the pupils. In two of the 
better schools effective results in oral reading were secured as 
follows : One fifth-grade class secures good oral reading in 
connection with. its civic club. Thirty minutes are spent each 
week in a meeting of the club. Members are expected to choose 
selections which are appropriate for the program of the day and' 
to read them before the group. Each pupil has a real purpose 
for reading and the audience situation which confronts him calls 
forth his best efforts. Although far less time is devoted to oral 
reading in this school than in many other schools, the results 
are superior throughout. It seems reasonable to assume that the 
pupil who puts forth his best efforts in a thorough preparation 



READING 1Z 

of one selection which he will read with a real purpose will make 
more progress than the pupil who reads several selections in a 
half-hearted way. In a second school the pupils read several 
pages to determine the answer to a problem which has been held 
over from the preceding lesson. At the conclusion of the study 
period the pupils participated in a lively discussion of the 
question at issue. Pupils differed frequently during the discus- 
sion. They had been trained to refer to the text under such con- 
ditions and to read to the class the statements which supported 
their point of view. Several parts of the selection were read a 
number of times, but each time the pupil who read had a definite 
purpose and he read effectively. 

In contrast with the vigorous reading exercises just de- 
scribed a number of uninteresting, lifeless recitations were ob- 
served. In one class the pupils were reading the story of Ulysses. 
After each paragraph had been read, several questions were asked 
to determine whether or not the pupil had understood the pas- 
sage. Two or three pupils were then asked to re-read the same 
passage. The teacher gave her chief attention to the correction 
of such errors as "peaceful" for "peacable." After ten minutes of 
this type of exercise the class had read only three paragraphs 
and it is needless to say the pupils had lost all interest in the 
recitation. Oral reading of the type just described accomplishes 
very little for pupils of the intermediate grades. 

Seventh and Eighth Grade Reading 

The conception of reading as an oral exercise is largely ac- 
cepted in the seventh and eighth grades. This view will be criti- 
cized in connection with the discussion of silent reading. It is 
to be said here that the oral exercises are usually taken up as 
follows. The selections are first studied silently. Questions are 
then asked about the words. Later the selections are read and 
discussed. Some of these exercises proved to be very effective. 
They were characterized by interest, and earnest endeavor was 
apparent on the part of the pupils. In many instances, however, 
the discussions became too detailed and analytic. In one class 
which was reading about Washington the following questions 
were asked: "Who was Washington? Who wrote this story? 
Who was Jefferson?" Several words which had been listed on 
the board were pronounced at this point. Eight or ten lines 
were then read silently, followed by these questions : "Name 
three things which were told about Washington. (The final 
answer secured was, 'He had a good mind, great power of pene- 
tration, and good judgment.') What is the difference between 
mind and judgment? What is the connection between judicious- 



74 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

Aj and judgment? What part of speech is judiciously?'* After 
eight minutes spent in this way the teacher was forced to turn to 
another lesson because the pupils were entirely lost. 

Tests in Silent Reading 

At the same time that the pupils were tested in oral reading, 
they were also tested in silent reading. The silent reading test 
was omitted in the case of first-grade pupils. After the oral 
reading test had been completed by a pupil, new passages were 
used for the silent reading tests. The tester recorded in this 
case the rate of reading. By means of written reproductions of 
what was read and by answers to questions concerning the 
subject-matter of the test, the pupil gave evidence as to his com- 
prehension of v/hat he had read. Three selections were used in 
the silent reading test in order to suit the subject-matter to the 
maturity of the pupils of the different grades. The easiest 
selection, entitled "Tiny Tad", was read by pupils of the second 
and third grades. The second selection, entitled "The Grass- 
hoppers", was read by pupils of the fourth, fifth and sixth grades, 
and the hardest selection, entitled "Ancient Ships", was read 
by the pupils of the seventh and eighth grades. The relative 
difficulty of these selections had been previously determined by 
tests given to 2654 pupils in thirteen cities. 

The Rate of Silent Reading 

The average rate at which a class reads silently was deter- 
mined by finding the average number of seconds required by a 
class to read one hundred words. This result was then expressed 
in terms of the number of words read per second. The average 
rate at which each class that was tested read is shown in Table 
XVII. The median and average rates for each grade are indi- 
cated at the foot of the table. The average rate by grades was 
found by determining the average number of seconds required 
by all pupils of a given grade to read one hundred words. This 
result was then expressed in terms of the number of words read 
per second. 

The rate at which pupils of Grand Rapids read is compared 
with the rate at which pupils of other cities read in Diagram 
XXI. Since three selections were used in the silent reading 
test, a readjustment has been necessary in the diagram. The 
points of this readjustment are between the third and fourth 
grades, and between the sixth and seventh grades. In Diagram 
XXI, dotted, vertical lines are drawn at each of these points. 





READING 








75 




TABLE XVII 










AVERAGE RATES IN SILENT READING FOR Z1 SCHOOLS OF 




GRAND RAPIDS 












Second 


Third 


Fourth 


Fifth 


Sixth 


Seventh Eighth 


SCHOOLS 


Grade 


Grade 


Grade 


Grade 


Grade 


Grade 


Grade 


Tunior — 











2.86 


2.81 
2.78 


3.03 


South 


2.94 




1.02 


1.75 


1.85 


2.63 


2.44 


2.56 


2.50 


Alexander — . 


L54 
1.09 


2.50 
2.13 


2.27 
1.82 


2.13 
2.04 


2.70 
2.18 


2.27 
2.33 









Coit — - 


1.25 


1.64 


2.44 


2.13 










Coldbrook 


1.72 


1.96 


2.94 


3.33 


3.33 


3.33 


2.70 


Congress 


1.66 


2.70 


2.80 


2.77 










1.67 


1.69 


2.38 


2.33 


2.70 


1.96 


2.63 


East Leonard 


1.35 


2.78 


2.56 


4.00 ■ 


3.70 


2.18 


2.78 


Evangeline 


.41 




1.85 




3.12 


3.45 


3.85 


Finney 
















Fountain 


3.45 


2.17 


2.56 


4.16 









Franklin 


1.25 


2.58 


2.30 


2.94 


2.77 


2.22 


2.63 


Hall 


1.43 


2.00 


2.38 


2.22 


2.56 


1.92 


2.44 


Henry 


2.22 


2.50 


2.38 


2.86 









Ionia 


1.82 


2.33 








.... 




Jefferson . 


1.75 
1.58 


2.08 
2.27 


1.92 
2.43 


1.79 
3.33 


3.03 
3.84 


1.82 
2.85 




Lafayette 


1.75 


Lexington 


1.78 


2.64 


2.09 


2.68 


3.21 


3.49 


3.37 


Madison 


2.22 


2.77 


2.43 


2.77 


2.85 







Michigan -— 


1.96 


2.63 


2.44 


2.13 


2.70 








North Division 


1.89 


1.79 


2.13 











Oakdale 


.76 


1.28 


1.87 


1.92 


2.13 






Palmer 


1.49 


2.00 
2.63 


2.33 


3.12 


2.77 


2.85 


2.85 


Pine 


1.20 


1.87 


2.15 


2.86 


2.22 


2.63 




Plainfield 


1.56 


2.38 


2.04 


2.08 


2.22 


1.39 




Sheldon 


1.35 


1.82 


2.17 


2.56 


2.17 







Sibley 


1.32 


2.33 


2.33 


2.86 


2.86 




. 


Sigsbee 


1.59 


2.44 


1.85 


2.56 


3.33 


2.94 


3.03 


South Division 


1.35 


1.52 


2.04 


2.63 


2.94 


2.78 


2.04 


Stocking 


1.60 


2.17 


1.79 













Straight 


1.88 


2.63 


1.85 


2.37 


3.57 
2.27 
2.86 


2.85 





Turner 


1.67 


2.78 


2.04 


2.63 


2.86 




Walker 


1.16 















West Leonard 


1.61 


1.61 


2.50 











Widdicomb 


1.92 


1.92 


2.78 


2.50 


3.70 




.— 


Median 


1.59 


2.17 


2.28 


2.63 


2.86 


2.78 


2.74 


Average (All Cases) 


1.58 


2.20 


2.30 


2.63 


2.85 


2.72 


2.78 



The numbers at the left of the diagram indicate the number of 
words read per second in the easy selection. The numbers^ on 
the line between the third and fourth grades indicate the equiva- 
lent number of words read per second when the second more 
difficult passage was used, and the numbers on the line between 
the sixth and seventh grades indicate the equivalent rates for 
the most difficult selection. 

The diagram shows that the rate at which the pupils of 
Grand Rapids read silently is very similar to the rate at which 
the pupils of thirteen cities read, but is somewhat lower than 
the average Cleveland rate. Inasmuch as the record for Grand 
Rapids compares so favorably with the record for thirteen cities, 
it would seem that this phase of reading achievement has been 
fairly well provided for in the instruction which Grand Rapids 



DIAGRAM XXI — Average Rates in Silent Reading among 3399 pupils in Grand Rapids, 
among 1831 pupils in Cleveland and among 2654 pupils in thirteen other cities. 




DIAGRAM XXII — Average Rates in Silent Reading in each grade in all schools and in 
each grade in three selected schools. 



READING -j^ 

gives to its pupils. On the other hand, very little attention has 
been given ni classroom instruction to the problem of rate in 
silent reading. As better methods are worked out for securing 
more effective results in this phase of reading achievement k 
may be found that our standards are far too low at present The 
fact that Cleveland secured results which are distinctly superior 
to the scores for Grand Rapids leads to the conclusion that 
Grand Rapids should by no means feel self-satisfied with its 
average results. 

Diagram XXII presents some of the variations which are 
found m particular schools in Grand Rapids. Oakdale School 
ranks very low in rate of silent reading. Coldbrook School and 
Lexington School, on the other hand, although making records 
which are slightly below the average in certain grades, make 
records which are distinctly above the average in most grades 
A careful study of Diagram XXII and of Table XVII shows that 
there are a number of schools which should give considerable 
attention to the problem of rate in silent reading. In some 
schools this need is apparent throughout the grades; in other 
schools this need is most apparent in connection with certain 
grades. The fact that some schools attain very high rates 
throughout the grades indicates the possibiUty that the general 
average for the city as a whole might be made much higher if 
the proper amount of attention were directed to this problem. 

Quality of Silent Reading 

^ The scores for quality of silent reading are based on the 
ability of the pupil to reproduce what was read and to answer 
questions concerning the subject-matter of the test. The aver- 
age quaUty score for each class tested is given in Table XVIII 
The median and average scores for each grade appear at the foot 
of the table. The average scores for all the pupils of each grade 
have been adopted for use in making comparisons. 

The average quality scores for Grand Rapids, Cleveland 
and thirteen other cities are compared in Diagram XXIII The 
same readjustments appear in this diagram which were described 
m connection with the diagrams for rate of silent reading The 
diagram shows that above the third grade the records made by 
the pupils in Grand Rapids follow closely and are slightly above 
the records made by Cleveland pupils. On the other hand the 
records for Grand Rapids are distinctly lower than the records 
made by thirteen other cities with the exception of the seventh 
grade records. The unusually high scores made by the pupils 
of the second and third grades can be easily accounted for as 



78 



SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 



TABLE XVIII 

AVERAGE QUALITY SCORE IN SILENT READING FOR Z1 
SCHOOLS IN GRAND RAPIDS 

Second 
SCHOOLS Grade 

Union 

South 

Junior 17 

Alexander 28 

Buchanan 28 

Coit 41 

Coldbrook 31 

Congress 33 

Diamond 23 

East Leonard 36 

Evangeline 25 

Finney 

Fountain 32 

Franklin 31 

Hall 35 

Henry 39 

Ionia ,. 27 

Jefferson 28 

Lafayette 39 

Lexington 47 

Madison 35 

Michigan 35 

North Division 33 

Oakdale 34 

Palmer 32 

Pine 34 

Plainfield 39 

Sheldon 24 

Sibley 33 

Sigsbee 47 

South Division 28 

Stocking 23 

Straight 34 

Turner 40 

Walker 56 

West Leonard 35 

Widdicomb 45 

Median 33 

Average (All Cases) 32 



Third 


Fourth 


Fifth 


Sixth 


Seventh 


Eight 


Grade 


Grade 


Grade 


Grade 


Grade 


Grad. 








28 


24 
20 


26 

25 


40 


'is 


33 


31 


28 


27 


40 


15 


17 


35 


26 




40 


17 


31 


26 


22 




43 


12 


24 








40 


17 


25 


28 


19 


26 


39 


32 


24 








31 


19 


25 


31 


19 


24 


50 


28 


27 


22 


32 


34 




27 




28 


29 


32 


49 


34 


44 








43 


15 


25 


35 


24 


42 


49 


26 


36 


35 


28 


23 


44 


18 


24 








48 












36 


14 


20 


29 


20 




43 


20 


33 


30 


33 


46 


49 


24 


32 


31 


20 


23 


43 


26 


30 


39 






41 


33 


24 


28 




.... 


35 


15 








.... 


39 


18 


17 


26 






44 


16 


21 


26 


18 


26 


39 












41 


15 


27 


30 


31 




39 


23 


29 


36 


34 


.... 


41 


17 


30 


34 






36 


15 


25 


23 






55 


21 


33 


41 


21 


22 


34 


21 


37 


31 


19 


24 


30 


13 










29 


12 


20 


23 
23 


21 




36 


17 


24 


36 


25 




34 


13 




.— 


'..'. 




42 


8 


21 


"34 






40 


17 


25 


30 


24 


26 


40 


19 


25 


31 


24 


27 



follows. The teachers giving the tests wrote the reproduction 
and answers to questions for the pupils of the second and third 
grades. The pupils in grades above the third wrote their own 
reproductions. The written reproductions received from a num- 
ber of second and third-grade classes show clearly the influence 
of the teacher who gave the test. The English in these repro- 
ductions is superior to the English used by pupils of these 
grades. The thought is reproduced more fully than has been 
found to be the case with most pupils of these grades. The 
questions are answered with a degree of precision which excels 
the written work of pupils in more advanced grades. It is to be 
regretted that this error has crept into the results as it makes 
any comparison among second and third-grade classes invalid. 
It should be added, however, that many of the second and third 



READING 



79 



DIAGRAM XXIII — Average quality scores among 3399 pupils in Grand Rapids, among 
1831 pupils in Cleveland and among 2654 pupils in thirteen other cities. 




DIAGRAM XXIV — ^Average quality scores in silent reading in each grade in all schools 
and in each grade in three selected schools. 



80 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND-RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

grade reproductions were copied with a high degree of accuracy 
as shown by the fact that the sentences copied were characteristic 
of pupils of- these grades. 

A careful study of the quality scores for Grand Rapids re- 
veals the fact that the record for the city as a whole is not only 
relatively low, but that the growth in individual schools is er- 
ratic and fails to show steady progress. In Diagram XXIV an 
unusual drop between the fourth and fifth grades is represented 
in the curve for Michigan School. A similar drop is represented 
between the fifth and sixth grades in the curve for South Divi- 
sion School. When one contrasts such progress with the steady 
growth revealed by the record for Diamond School, one is forced 
to question the consistency of the instruction which these pupils 
receive from grade to grade. In Diagram XXV, fairly constant 
progress in the fourth, fifth, and sixth grades is shown in the 
records for Turner, Sigsbee, and Straight Schools. In Diagram 
XXVI, on the other hand, an entirely different type of progress 
is shown for these same grades. Such records indicate that there 
is urgent need that the problem of securing effective results in 
the silent interpretation of printed material be giv^n immediate 
attention. 

The conclusions which have been reached as a result of -the 
objective study of silent reading achievement may be summar- 
ized as follows. The progress in rate of silent reading for the 
city as a whole is to be compared favorably with that shown in 
other cities. In individual schools and classes there is need for 
greater emphasis and more consistent effort on this phase of 
silent reading. In general, there is a possibility of improvement 
in rate of silent reading which has not been fully realized any-, 
where. The record in quality of silent reading is relatively low 
for the city as a whole, particularly in the fourth, fifth, and 
sixth grades. The erratic character of the progress throughout 
these grades indicates that the methods of securing results in 
this phase af reading achievement are less well worked out than 
is true in the case of oral reading achievement or rate of silent 
reading. When one compares the very satisfactory results se- 
cured in oral reading with the inferior and erratic results secured 
in silent reading, it stands out with perfect clearness that there 
is need of changing the relative emphasis given to oral reading 
and to silent reading by the teachers of Grand Rapids. 

Interpretation 

The distinction between oral reading and silent reading has 
purposely received considerable emphasis in this report. Al- 
though this distinction has not been kept prominently before 



DIAGRAM XXV — Average Quality Scores in Silent Reading in each grade in fotir 

selected schools. 



I^^ 



^ 



iny 



.r. 



-'7^ 



±J: 



^C. 



^->' 



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J4J r "" T"^ — 



DIAGRAM XXVI — Average Quality Scores in Silent Reading in each grade in three 

selected schools. 



82 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

the minds of teachers in the past, the increasing recognition of 
the value of silent reading makes it necessary that teachers give 
this problem constant consideration. It was shown in the earlier 
part of this report that Grand Rapids secures effective results in 
teaching oral reading. The fact that silent reading habits are 
less effectively established leads to the conclusion that a portion 
of the time and effort now given to oral reading should be di- 
rected to silent reading. In order to determine at just what 
points in the grades this change of emphasis should take place, 
it is necessary to bear in mind certain well-established facts. 

When second and third-grade pupils have acquired as much 
mastery of the mechanics of reading as have the pupils of Grand 
Rapids, they are able to pronounce words which are quite be- 
yond their comprehension. Whenever pupils have reached this 
stage in their development, additional mastery of word pronunci- 
ation is less important than increased mastery of meanings. 
These meanings are best secured by coming in contact with 
words and sentences time after time, until a body of meaning is 
built up in regard to these words. The large amount of atten- 
tion which the teachers of many second and third-grade classes 
of Grand Rapids give to quantitative reading with emphasis 
upon the thought side, is a long step in the right direction. 

Furthermore, a pupil in the first grade is able to pronounce 
words more rapidly than he is able to recognize them, but dur- 
ing the second and third-grade his rate of word recognition 
reaches or surpasses his rate of word pronunciation. By the 
time the pupil reaches the fourth grade he has mastered the art 
of oral reading well enough to use it intelligently. The result is 
that he begins to read much more rapidly than during the prim- 
ary grades. He becomes interested in the subject-matter and 
because his vocal chords react slowly, he lets his eyes run along 
the lines without supervising the vocal chord reactions fully. 
Speed in recognition of words at this time becomes an enemy 
of excellence in oral reading. These facts justify the contention 
that it would be more in harmony with the child's needs to lay 
less emphasis on oral reading during the intermediate grades 
and, on the other hand, to give greater opportunity for the de- 
velopment of effective habits of silent reading. 

Again, the curve of progress in rate of silent reading for the 
pupils of Grand Rapids shows that the most rapid progress is 
made by the pupils of the second, third, and fourth grades. By 
the time pupils reach the sixth grade their habits of careful silent 
reading have been well established. It will be noted that under 
our present system of instruction little progress or advance is 
made beyond this grade in rate of silent reading. As Diagram 
XXIII shows, this was true not only in the case of Grand Rapids 



READING 83 

but in the case of Cleveland and the other cities which were 
represented in Diagram XXIII. As pointed out above, this is a 
general defect in all elementary-school teaching. Silent reading 
can develop much beyond the point shown in these diagrams. 
It would be a great advantage to all pupils if they could attain 
the highest possible fluency in silent reading. Schools should 
take an entirely new attitude in regard to these various phases 
of reading achievement. 

Furthermore, during the third and fourth grades, when 
pupils are just beginning to develop the power, of rapid and in- 
telligent silent reading, they also become interested in reading to 
find out facts. Reading for information, therefore, should con- 
stitute the essential purpose of reading exercises. The reading 
committee of Grand Rapids has made provision in its course of 
study for this type of reading. The course of study says at the 
beginning of the fourth grade "This is chiefly silent reading to 
get information for the work in history, geography, natural 
science, and physiology. The recitation or class discussion be- 
comes the test of the pupil's ability to get thought from the 
printed page. It is of great importance that boys and girls ac- 
quire this ability and until they can do silent reading intelli- 
gently, it is advisable to use class time in which the work may 
go on under the teacher's help and guidance." As one visits 
the schools, he finds that the spirit of these directions has not 
been carried out in practice to any great extent. 

The facts presented in the preceding paragraphs should 
justify the conclusion that the pupils of Grand Rapids may very 
well begin to devote considerable attention to silent reading in 
the third grade. During two or three periods a week, silent study 
might well be substituted for sight reading. The pupils should 
read with a definite purpose or problem in mind and the reading 
should be followed by a brief, lively discussion to enable the 
teacher to determine the extent to which the class as a whole 
appreciated the thought of the selection and. to determine the 
extent to which individual help on the part of certain members 
of the class is needed. Frequently, pupils should be given a 
relatively easy selection and should be urged to proceed rapidly 
with their reading. By all means pupils should never be told 
to pronounce the words to themselves while reading silently. 
That principal of Grand Rapids who urges the pupils under her 
supe/vision to read so that she can see their lips move, and who 
encourages this habit throughout the grades, is developing habits 
on the part of pupils which will defeat the attempt to develop 
effective silent readers. 

In endeavoring to secure speed and quality in silent read- 



84 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

ing, the teacher should adapt her method to the selection in hand 
or should choose selections which are adapted to a given purpose. 
Many selections may be read quickly for the story. Several 
pages of Black Beauty may be read rapidly to find out the num- 
ber of things that Black Beauty had to become accustomed to 
in order to become a well-trained horse. Speed can be encour- 
aged in such an exercise by limiting the amount of time given 
to the reading. On the other hand, many selections should be 
read with more care in order to determine what the essential 
points are in the selection, or to weigh the relative imiportance 
of the facts, or to associate the facts of the selection with things 
which the child already knows. It is the phase of reading just 
described of which the pupils of Grand Rapids stand most clear- 
ly in need. Throughout the intermediate grades selection after 
selection should be assigned and the pupil trained to read that 
selection silently under the guidance of specific purposes. Such 
a lesson cannot be conducted without careful thought and prepar- 
ation. At frequent intervals careful tests of speed and quality 
of silent reading should be made in order to determine the most 
urgent need of the pupils. The results of these tests should 
direct the teacher in her choice of further assignments. 

Wider training in habits of effective silent reading is recam- 
mended for the pupils of the seventh and eighth grades as well 
as for the pupils of the intermediate grades. Part of the time 
now given to oral reading should be utilized in teaching pupils 
how to read more effectively. The criticism now often made by 
high-school teachers that the elementary school fails to teach its 
pupils to read effectively is doubtless justified in large measure 
so far as the power of silent reading and interpretation are con- 
cerned. Evidence of this fact is found in the wide variation 
which prevails in the achievement of eighth-grade pupils. The 
teachers of reading in the upper grades should see to it that the 
boys and girls who go from the elementary school, either into 
the high school or out into the practical world of affairs, have 
been trained in the art of silent, individual mastery of the printed 
page. Less emphasis on formal oral reading in the intermediate 
and upper grades and more emphasis upon effective habits of 
silent reading is the outstanding recommendation which issues 
from this study of the instructional needs in reading of the pupils 
of Grand Rapids. 



CHAPTER V 

COMPOSITION 



Matthew H. Willing 



The achievement of the elementary-school pupils of Grand 
Rapids in written English composition was investigated by 
means of the following test: The pupils in grades 4-2, 5-2, 6-2, 
7-2, and 8-2 were asked to write original stories on the subject, 
*'An Exciting Experience." They were directed to write about 
something that had happened to them or to people whom they 
knew. They were warned against reproducing stories they had 
read or had seen at moving picture shows. The following sug- 
gestions were written on the board to help them in making selec- 
tions : A Storm, A Runaway, An Errand at Night, A Wonderful 
Journey, In the Woods, On the Water, On the Ice, On the 
Mountains, An Unexpected Meeting. They were not required 
to use, any of these, if they preferred others. The whole aim in 
devising and giving the test was to secure as natural an expres- 
sion as possible on subjects of personal interest to the children. 
The requirement that they use this kind of a subject insured a 
certain uniformity which made it easier to evaluate results. 

The test period covered thirty minutes — five for preliminary 
explanation and suggestion, twenty for uninterrupted writing, 
and five for concluding, making corrections and counting the 
words written. In seventeen representative schools the tests 
were administered by the writer, while in the other buildings the 
principals managed the work. A conference was held with the 
principals before the beginning of the tests relative to their pur- 
pose and method. The interpretation of results here made is on 
the basis of the seventeen schools, though the data from the 
others are also set forth in a concluding table. 

These seventeen schools provided a total of 2075 papers, 
divided as follows among the four grades : 4-2, 456 ; 5-2, 445 ; 
6-2, 490; 7-2, 367; 8-2, 317. 

For the purpose of grading, a random selection of ten papers 



86 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

was made from each grade in each school with the exception of 
three unusually large classes from which a third of the papers 
was drawn. The selection in each case was ample to afford a 
correct respresentation of the whole group, since the ten papers 
rarely constituted less than a third of the whole number. The 
papers thus selected numbered 805, divided as follows: 4-2, 170; 
5-2, 175 ; 6-2, 180; 7-2, 165 ; 8-2, 115. 

These 805 papers were graded by the use of a composition 
scale derived from the material of an exactly similar test given 
in Denver, Colo., the preceding December. This scale consists 
of eight samples ranging by approximately equal steps from 
poorest to best, and covering the range of accomplishment of 
pupils in grades 4 to 8 inclusive. It is reproduced immediately 
below. 

Composition Scale 

A-90 
The most exciting experience of my life happened when I was but 
five years of age. I was riding my tricycle on the top of our high ter- 
race. Beside the curbing below, stood a vegetable wagon and a horse. 
Suddenly I got too near the top of the terrace. The front wheel of my 
tricycle slipped over and down I went, lickety-split, under the horse 
standing by the curbing. I had quite a high tricycle and the handle-bars 
scraped the horse's stomach, making him kick and plunge in a very 
alarming manner. I was directly under him during this, but finally I 
rolled over out of his way and scrambled up. I looked at my hands! 
Most of the first finger and part of the thumb of my left hand were 
missing. The horse had stepped on them. I had endured no sensation 
of pain before this, but now my mangled hand began to hurt terribly. 
I was hurried to the hospital and operated on, and now you would 
hardly notice one of my fingers is missing. I certainly have good cause 
to congratulate myself on my good fortune in escaping with as little 
injury to myself as I did, for I might have been terribly mangled in my 
head or body. 

No. of mistakes in spelling, punctuation and syntax per 

hundred words — 0. 

B-80 
Near our ranch in Fort Logan there was a chicken ranch. On day 
my sister and I went up to the chicken ranch on our horses. Coming 
back there was a road leading from our house to the main road and 
along this roadwere half rotted stumps. On every one of these stumps 
what do you think we saw. We saw snakes! snakes! snakes! I suppose 
these snakes were shedding their skins they were of every color, shape 
and size. But when sister and I saw these snakes we whipped our 
horses into a gallop and away we went just as hard as we could go. 
When we got to the house we went in and mamma couldn't get us out 
the house that day. I was so scared that I believe I dreamed about 
snakes for a month. 

Number of mistakes in spelling, punctuation and syntax 

per hundred words — 5. 

C-70 
When I was in Michegan I had an exciting thing happen or rather 



COMPOSITION 87 

saw it, it was when the big steamship plying between Chicago and 
Muskegon was sunk about 7 o'clock in the evening. It caught on fire 
with a load of cattle and products for the market on board, one of the 
lifeboats carrying some of the few people who were on board landed at 
our pier. The "whaleback", steamer which goes between Chicago and 
Muskegon was two hours later in coming than the freighter and was 
stopped to clear up the wreckage, all of the cattle and products and an 
immense cargo of coal were lost, but there were only two people lost, 
the ship tried hard to get to port with her cargoe but, could not reach 
it. The next morning we found planks, and parts of the wreck on the 
beach. Our cottage was at the top of a cliff and it was just one hundred 
feet to the lake from our cottage, we had a beautiful view, and the sight 
of the fire on the horizon was a beautiful sight (though it was pitiful,). 

Number of mistakes in spelling, punctuation and .syntax 

per hundred words — 8. 

D-60 
One time when mother, some girl friends and myself were staying 
in the mountains. An awful storm came up. At the we were way up 
the mountain. The lighting flashed and the thunder roared. We were 
very frighted for the cabin we were staying at was at the foot of the 
mountain. We didn't have our coats with us for it was very warm when 
we started. There were a few pine trees near us so we ran under them. 
They didn't do much for good for the rain came down in torents. The 
rain came down so hard that it uprooted one of the trees. Finely it 
began to slack a little. So we thought we would try and go back. About 
half was down the mountain was a little hut. We started and when got 
about halfway down it began to rain all the harder. We didn't know 
what to do for this time there wasn't any trees to get under. We de- 
sided to go on for the nearest shelter was the hut. Finely we got there 
cold and wet to the skin. 

Number of mistakes in spelling, punctuation and syntax 
per hundred words — 11. 

E-50 
One time mother and father were going to take sister and I for a 
long ride thanksgiving. We had to go 60 miles to get there. When sister 
and I herd about it we were very glad. It was a very cold trip. We 
four all went in a one-seated automoble. Dady drove and mother 
held me and sister sat on the top the top was down. Mother could not 
hold sister for she was two heavy. When we got there they had a hot 
fire ready for us and a goose dinner. We were there over night. In the 
morning it was hot out. This was on a farm. Sister and I got to go 
horse-back riding. It was lots of fune. They had children. The 
children were very nice. Our trip home was very cold. When we got 
home it had snod. 

Number of mistakes in spelling, punctuation and syntax 
per hundred words — 14. 

F-40 
My antie had her barn trown down last week and had all her 
chickens killed from the storm. Witch happened at twelve oclock at 
night. She had 30 chickens and one horse the horse was saved he ran 
oyer to our house and claped on the door whit his foot. When we saw 
him my father took him in barn where he slepped the night with our 
horse. When our antie told us about the accident we were very sorry 
the next night all my anties things were frozen. The storm blew 



88 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

terrible the next morning and I could not go to school so I had to stay 
home the whole week. 

Number of mistakes in spelling, punctuation and syntax 

per hundred words — 17. 

G-30 
The other day when I was rideing on our horse the engien was 
comeing and he got frightened so he through me down and I broke my 
hand. 

And the next thing I done was I went to the docter and he put some 
bandage on it and he told me to come the next day so I came the next 
day and he toke the bandage off and he looked at it and then it was 
better. 

Mistakes in spelling, punctuation and syntax per hun- 
dred words — 23. 

H-20 
Deron the summer I got kicked and sprain my arm. And I was in bed 
of wkeeks. And it happing up to Washtion Park I was going_ to catch 
some fish. And I was so happy when I got the banged of I will nevery 
try that stunt againg. 

Number of mistakes in spelling, punctuation and syntax 

per hundred words — 30. 

The papers from the seventeen Grand Rapids schools were 
graded by the writer subsequent to his use of the scale in grad- 
ing the papers of the Denver test mentioned above. 

The following table gives the distribution of marks by- 
grades. The first or left half of the table gives grades that are 
subdivided more minutely than the scale itself. Thus when a 
composition is between B and C in the scale, it is graded 75. 
In the right half of the table the grades are reduced to correspon- 
dence with the scale. 

From the table and diagrams it will be seen that the pupils 
in 4-2 and 5-2 grades are nearer together in their ability in this 
test than are pupils of the higher grades. A mathematical index 
of this homogeneity is the quartile deviation (Q) given in the 
above table for each grade. This quartile deviation represents 
half the distance on the scale between the mid-points of the 
upper and lower halves of a distribution. In the diagrams it is 
one-half the distance between the two outer broken lines run- 
ning through vertically. The nearer these two lines are to- 
gether, the smaller the quartile deviation and the greater the 
homogeneity of the group in question. The quartile deviations 
from the five grades as given in the table are: 

Grade 4-2 5-2 6-2 7-2 8-2 

Q 6.1 6.2 6.8 7.8 8 

This is as much as to say, that the longer pupils remain in 
school, the farther apart they grow within their respective grades 
in the particular abilitv here tested. Or, to put it another way, 



COMPOSITION 



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The data of this table are illustrated in the following dia- 
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DIAGRAM XXVII — ^Distribution of merit scores in composition in grades 4-2 and 5-2 
of 17 Grand Rapids schools. 



COMP 

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OSITION 

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91 



DIAGRAM XXVIII— Distribution 
of 17 



merit scores in composition in grades 6-2 and 7-2 
and Rapids schools, 



92 



SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 



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DIAGRAM XXIX- 



-Distribution of merit scores in composition in the 8-2 grades and 
in all grades of 17 Grand Rapids schools. 



COMPOSITION 93 

grade standards in written composition, if there are any, become 
less and less defined as one approaches high school. 

One other significant point indicated by the above table 
and diagrams is the great amount of overlapping in ability from 
grade to grade. . The upper quartile (mid-point of upper half) of 
one grade is almost the median (mid-point) of the next higher. 
That is, the upper quarter of any grade is better than the lower 
half of the succeeding grade, or the lower quarter of the second 
grade following. This overlapping is much more exaggerated 
in the case of the 7-2 and 8-2 grades. There is, in fact, little 
difference between the two. A more concrete "illustration of 
what is here meant is afforded by noting the percentage of 
pupils in each grade making a given score, say 50. 

Grade 4-2 5-2 6-2 7-2 8-2 

Per cent marked 50 28% ^ 45% 40% 24% 15% 

All this simply means that grade lines do not indicate very 
much so far as accomplishment in written composition is con- 
cerned — at least when general merit is under consideration. 

The following table gives the quantity medians (words 
written), the merit medians and the quartile deviations in merit 
for each grade in each of the seventeen schools. 

The merit curves of these schools in comparison with that 
of the group are shown in Diagrams XXX and XXXI. 

The merit curve of the group, or of the system as we may 
call it, shows a consistent rise from 4-2 to 7-2 but a distinct 
slowing up in 8-2. The successive gains, 4-2 to 5-2, 5-2 to 6-2, 
etc., are 6.1, 5.7, 8.5 and 3.5. The greatest gain over a preceding 
grade is made by the 7-2 grade, while the lowest gain comes in 
the 8-2 grade. The individual schools, as may be seen in the 
diagrams, follow this same curve more or less closely. The 8-2 
grade almost universally shows little or no improvement over 
the 7-2 ; while the 7-2 is almost always much above the 6-2. On 
fhe basis of this investigation it is not possible to tell why these 
peculiarities exist. They present problems for local supervisory 
study. 

It is interesting in this connection to note that the merit 
curve for Denver runs very closely parallel to this of Grand 
Rapids. (Diagram XXXII.) 

The quantity curves for the two systems are compared in 
Diagram XXXIII. 









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COMPOSITION 



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DIAGRAM XXX (A)— Comparison of 
Grand Rapids with the 



System Median 

merit curve in composition of 17 Schools 
curves of Individual Schools. 



of 



96 



SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 






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DIAGRAM XXX (B) — Comparison of merit curve in composition of 17 Schools of 
Grand Rapids with the curves of Individual Schools. 



COMPOSITION 



97 



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DIAGRAM XXXI (A)— Comparison of 
Grand Rapids with the 



School Medians 



merit curve in composition of 17 schools 
curves of individual schools. 



of 



98 



SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN • 



= ::T- :x~:::":":::":: ::" :::::::: :::::": 


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DIAGRAM XXXI (B)— Comparison of 
Grand Rapids with the 



School Medians 



merit curve in composition of 17 schools of 
curves of individual schools. 



COMPOSITION 



99 



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School Medians 



DIAGRAM XXXI (C) — Comparison of merit curve in composition of 17 schools of 
Grand Rapids with the ctirves of individual schools. 



100 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 



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piAGRAM XXXII — Comparison of merit curves in composition of Denver and 

Grand Rapids. 



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DIAGRAM XXXIII — Comparison of quantity curves in composition of Denver and 

Grand Rapids, 



102 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

These diagrams will be referred to later in comparing the 
results of the test in the two systems. 

Table XXI that follows gives the ranking of the schools in 
the case of each grade with respect to merit. When schools 
have the same medians in particular grades they are arranged 
alphabetically. This is most noticeable in grade 7-2. 

It will be seen at once that schools do not rank at all con- 
sistently throughout their grades. For example, Lexington 
ranks first in 4-2, eleventh in 5-2, third in 6-2, fifth in 7-2 and 
fourth in 8-2 and it is one of the most consistent. This lack of 
consistency from grade to grade makes it really impossible to 
rank the schools as units with much validity. 

Another and more significant point to note in Table XXI is 
the range in medians from the lowest schools to the highest. For 
the successive grades these ranges are 16.1, 12.7, 15, 14.6 and 
15.9. That is, the best class in any grade is a step and a half on 
the scale above the poorest. This is almost the equivalent of a 
three-year range in the system medians. On the basis of the 
system medians, the best classes in a grade are at least two 
years ahead of the poorest classes. 

This, of course, may be inevitable and justifiable but the 
supervisors of these schools should recognize the fact that in 
composition the conditions described exist and call for some 
kind of treatment. Grand Rapids does not face, as do some 
other cities, difficulties growing out of the extensive use of 
foreign languages in the homes from which the children come. 
Nor are social condition strikingly heterogeneous. Furthermore, 
where conditions in the home are unfavorable they do not al- 
ways parallel the poor compositions. Some of the lowest classes 
are made up of American children from professional and busi- 
ness classes ; while some of the highest classes are made up of 
children practically all of foreign parentage and from the poorer 
orders. It is easy to ascribe too great importance to these two 
factors in explaining situations like the above — especially in the 
upper grades. 

The matter of the amount written has not been touched 
upon outside Table XX, and needs very little consideration. It 
appears to have little to do with the merit of the compositions. 
One possible exception to this is the 4-2 grade where the correla- 
tion is rather high. There are great differences between classes 
in this particular which suggest interesting subjects for local 
study. 

In general the written composition of the Grand Rapids 
pupils impressed the writer favorably. It surpassed that of the 



COMPOSITION 103 



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104 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

Denver pupils both in quantity and merit. The medians of the 
two are compared in this table : 

TABLE XXII 

Comparison of Medians of Quantity and of Merit in Composition 
between the Denver and Grand Rapids Schools. 

4-2 5-2 6-2 7-2 8-2 

Quan. Merit \Quan. Merit Quan. Merit Quan. Merit Quan. Merit 

Grand Rapids 128 41.2 145 47.3 174 53.0 205 61.5 220 65.0 

Denver 88 32.2 118 44.7 142 50.9 158 60.0 193 63.5 

So far as the fourth grade is concerned, the difference be- 
tween the two systems is probably due mainly to handwriting. 
The Denver pupils in this grade have not developed the facility 
or the legibility that the Grand Rapids pupils of the same grade 
display. The difficulty which the Denver pupils experience in 
mechanical execution doubtless accounts in large measure for 
the poor product in composition. It will be noted that Grand 
Rapids is not able to maintain this initial lead, although never 
actually overtaken. 

The stories of the Denver pupils were more exciting, more 
economically expressed, more to the point. The stories of the 
Grand Rapids pupils tended to be diffuse, to include much irrele- 
vant matter and to lack interest and point. On the other hand, 
the Denver papers were weak on the side of spelling, punctua- 
tion, and grammatical expression, in all of which the Grand 
Rapids papers excelled. 

The schools tested by the principals have not been included 
in the above discussion, lest the validity of the results or the 
comparisons be questioned. It is inevitable, of course, that the 
procedure under different examiners with little opportunity for 
training should vary in some particulars. There are indications 
that such was the case. On the whole, however, the results in 
these other schools, as given in the table below, are so much 
like those collected by the writer that they confirm the general 
judgments expressed above. 

The merit medians of these schools where the principals 
gave the tests run somewhat higher than those of the group 
tested by the writer. This is particularly noticeable in the 8-2 
grade where a median of 72.5 is 7.5 higher than the median of 
the same grade in the other groups. This speaks well for the 
concentration of eighth grades in the Junior High School and 
the South High School from which most of these papers came. 
The eighth grade papers in the other group, except those from 
Union High, all came from elementary schools. 



COMPOSITION 



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CHAPTER VI 

TESTS IN ARITHMETIC 



George 5. Counts 



In order to determine the degree of attainment that the 
children in the Grand Rapids schools have reached in the funda- 
mental operations in arithmetic, tests were given to all pupils 
in grades 3-1 to 8-2 inclusive. The tests were given during the 
week of February 28 to March 3. 

Nature of Test 

The test used was composed of fifteen different sets of 'ex- 
amples, designated as Sets A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, 
M, N, and O. It was intended to cover the "fundamentals" of 
arithmetic. Of the fifteen sets, four were in addition, two in 
subtraction, three in multiplication, four in division, and two in 
fractions. The several sets in each operation appeared in the 
test in the order of their complexity but interwoven with the sets 
of the other operations. Thus, Set A was a set of examples in 
the addition of two figures, the very simplest sort of addition. 
Addition appeared again in Set E in the form of five-figure 
columns and again in Set J in the form of thirteen-figure columns, 
and finally in Set M which was composed of examples of four 
columns of five figures each. Sets B and F were sets in sub- 
traction ; Sets C, G, and L were in multiplication ; Sets D, I, K, 
and N, in division; and Sets H and O in fractions. 

Since the test was composed of fifteen sets and since it was 
desirable that each pupil attempt the examples in each set, it 
was necessary to make definite time allowances for the various 
sets. In determining the amount of time to be given to a parti- 
cular set the attempt was made to make the allowance large 
enough to enable even the slowest pupil to solve at least one 
example and yet not large enough to permit even the most rapid 
pupil to solve all of the examples of the set. Thus, the time 
allowances ranged from thirty seconds to three minutes, depend- 



TESTS IN ARITHMETIC 107 

ing on the complexity of the operation. The test used in Grand 
Rapids is a slightly improved form of the test which was used 
in the Cleveland survey. 

Method of Giving Test 

From the foregoing it is seen that the test is a complicated 
one, and care in giving it is required. The principals of the 
various schools were therefore called together the week the 
tests were to be given and the test and the method of giving it 
were gone over carefully. In order to further insure the results 
against error, or rather in order to determine the amount of 
error in the results, if any, the writer personally conducted the 
test in a majority of the grades in eight schools. In this way a 
body of comparative results was secured with which to deter- 
mine the accuracy of the results in general. The giving of the 
tests was greatly facilitated by the fact that the schools use the 
Courtis practice forms in their daily work. These practice forms 
require the same type of- work as that used in the tests. 

In giving instructions to the principals it was asked that the 
Courtis signals for starting and stopping the pupils be used; 
that all the timing in each school be done by one person, prefer- 
ably the principal; and that the testing be begun in the third 
grade and proceed up to the eighth in order that the timer in 
each school become experienced for the more important upper 
grades, more important because it is not until the sixth grade 
is reached that the pupils attempt all the sets. 

Owing to the length of the test, twenty-two minutes of 
actual work being required, an interval of half a minute between 
each two sets of examples was allowed. Furthermore, two days 
were taken for the test, the first nine sets being given the first 
day and the remaining six sets the following day. 

General Results 

The general results for Grand Rapids as a whole appear in 
Table XXIV. The table is understood if read thus : The median 
number of examples solved correctly by the 3-1 grades through- 
out the city is 11.8, by the 3-2 grades 13.4, etc. 

From the table it is seen that the third grades were able to 
work the examples in Sets A and B only. Pupils in these grades 
have not been introduced to the more complex forms of arithme- 
tical operations and are consequently not familiar with them. 
Grade 4-1 tried more of the sets than did grade 3-2; 4-2 tried 
more than 4-1 ; and so on until finally grade 6-1 tried all of the 
sets. 

As a general rule the table shows constant progress from 



108 



SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 



grade to grade beginning with a relatively small score. How- 
ever, there are two striking exceptions to this general rule in the 
cases of Sets H and O which it will be remembered are sets in 
fractions. There thus seems to be a fundamental difference be- 
tween the fractions and the other types of examples. In the 
case of simple addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division, 
the pupil is confronted with the task of making automatic certain 
straightforward responses. Here it is not so much a question 
of knowing how as it is of developing speed in making re- 
sponses. For example, it does not take a pupil long to learn 
how to solve an example in long division, but it does require 

TABLE XXIV 
Medians for Each Arithmetic Test for All Grades. 



TEST 


GRADE 


3-1 


3-2 


4-1 


4-2 


5-1 


5-2 


6-1 


0-2 


7-1 


7-2 


8-1 

29.5 


8-2 


A 


11.8 


13.4 


13.6 


16.4 


20.3 


21.5 


22.8 


25.0 


26.5 


27.3 


30.3 


B 


6.3 


8.4 


9.1 


12.1 


14.7 


15.9 


16.8 


19.1 


21.3 


20.7 


22.8 


25.5 


C 






7.1 


11.3 


13.7 


14.0 


15.5 


17.0 


17.7 


18.8 


19.3 


20.7 


D 






6.9 


10.4 


12.5 


14.3 


15.5 


16.9 


18.4 


19.7 


20.5 


23.0 


E 






4.1 


4.6 


5.2 


5.4 


6.0 


6.6 


7.2 


7.2 


7.8 


8.1 


F 






2.8 


4.1 


6.0 


6.5 


7.1 


8.0 


9.3 


9.6 


10.3 


11.0 


G 






2.2 


3.3 


4.5 


4.9 


5.3 


5.6 


6.1 


6.1 


6.7 


6.8 


H 












6.3 


6.2 


6.5 


9.0 


7.8 


8.6 


8.8 


I 






.7 


.9 


1.3 


1.4 


2.3 


3.0 


3.8 


4.1 


4.0 


4.7 


i 








2.8 


3.4 


3.7 


4.1 


4.5 


5.4 


5.3 


5.7 


6.5 










3.0 


4.3 


5.4 


6.5 


7.5 


8.8 


9.7 


10.3 


L 










2.3 


2.9 


3.3 


3.6 


4.3 


4.5 


4.9 


4.9 


M 








2.3 


3.0 


3.6 


4.3 


4.5 


4.9 


5.0 


5.7 


5.7 


N 










.7 


.8 


1.1 


1.4 


1.7 


1.8 


2.0 


2.3 


O 














3.5 


3.6 


3.9 


4.6 


5.5 


4.8 



much time and much practice to develop speed in this sort of an 
operation. In the case of the fractions, on the other hand, it is 
mc5re a question of knowing how than of long practice. This 
statement is borne out very forcefully by the large initial score 
made in each set of fractions. In H the median score of grade 
5-2, the first grade attempting the set, is 6.3, while grade 8-2 
makes a score of only 8.8. In the intermediate grades the score 
fluctuates up and down, and there is an utter lack of the con- 
sistent progress characteristic of the other types of operations. 
This certainly means that if the pupil knows how to solve a 
particular example in fractions, it requires but little time or 
energy to do it. 

This discussion raises the whole question of the teaching of 
fractions. Efficiency in the four fundamentals seemingly re- 
quires long and continuous training, while efficiency in solving 
fractions seems to be easily acquired and easily lost. The teach- 
ing of the former should, therefore^ be begun early, but would 
it not be wise to postpone the teaching of fractions until the 



TESTS IN ARITHMETIC 109 



3 Q3.4) , 

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DIAGRAM XXXIV— Median records for all schools in the 15 arithmetic tests. 



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110 



SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPTDS, MICHIGAN 



pupil is sufficiently mature to receive thorough instruction in 
this complex type of operation? 

In Diagram XXXIV the facts set forth in Table XXIV are 
graphically presented with the qualification, however, that the 
scores for the younger section of each grade, i. e. 3-1, 4-1, etc., 
are omitted. 

Comparison With Cleveland 

Since the arithmetic test used in Grand Rapids was, with a 
few minor modifications, the test used in the survey of the 
Cleveland schools, it is possible to make some very interesting 
comparisons between the two school systems in the matter of 
arithmetical attainment. 

Through a process of weighting it was possible to convert 
the score made in each set into the terms of a basic unit. By 
adding together "units" or "points" thus made in all the sets by 



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DIAGRAM XXXV — A comparison of median total scores made in the 15 sets of the 
arithmetic test by 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th grades in Cleveland and Grand Rapids. 



TESTS IN ARITHMETIC 



111 



a particular pupil, grade, or school, a total score was obtained 
which would singly represent the scores made in all of the sets 
by that particular pupil, grade or school. 

Following this system of weighting, the median records for 
each of the grades in both Cleveland and Grand Rapids were 
thrown into a total score. A comparison of these total scores 
made by the several grades in the two cities appears in Diagram 
XXXV. The solid line represents the progress made in arith- 
metic from grade to grade by the pupils in the Grand Rapids 
schools as evidenced by the records made in the "fundamentals" ; 
the broken line represents Cleveland. The diagram shows Cleve- 
land to be distinctly superior in the three lower grades, but Grand 
Rapids forges ahead in the sixth grade and maintains the lead 
through the seventh and eighth grades. 

This comparison is favorable to the Grand Rapids schools 
because the final attainment in the upper grades is the desirable 
thing. Cleveland spends more time on arithmetic in the lower 







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DIAGRAM XXXVI — A comparison of the median number of examples solved 
correctly in Set "A" by grades 3 to 8 inclusive in Cleveland and Grand Rapids. 



112 



SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 



grades than does Grand Rapids, but this extra expenditure of 
time seems to be of no avail in the long run. However, since 
the scores represented in this diagram are composite scores, it 
is necessary to make a further analysis of the records made by 
the two city systems to find out whether or not Grand Rapids 
is uniformly superior in all types of the arithmetical processes 
occurring in the test. 

We turn, therefore, to Diagram XXXVI, in which the two 
cities are compared as to attainment in Set A, the simplest set 
of examples in addition. In general, the relations between the 
two curves here are similar to those shown in the previous dia- 
gram. The differences, however, while of the same sort, are not 
so marked here as in the comparison of total scores. This same 
statement holds true if applied to any one of the first four sets 
of the test which are the very simple sets in addition, subtrac- 
tion, multiplication, and division. Indeed, in Set B, substraction, 
the Cleveland scores are consistently higher than the Grand 
Rapids scores throughout the grades. It may be said, therefore, 



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DIAGRAM XXXVII — A comparison of the median number of examples solved 
correctly in Set "M" by grades 3 to 8 inclusive in Cleveland and Grand Rapids. 



TESTS IN ARITHMETIC 



113 



that the general superiority of the latter over the former is not 
due to superiority in the very simple combinations. 

Let us pass, therefore, to the next diagram. Diagram 
XXXVII, and compare the two cities in Set M, the addition of 
four columns of five figures each. Here a large initial advantage 
on the side of Cleveland is overcome between the fourth and 
fifth grades, and from that point on Grand Rapids shows decided 
superiority. An interesting and significant contrast may be 
drawn between Diagrams XXXVI and XXXVII if it will be 
remembered that they represent respectively a simple and a 
complex type of addition. There is little difference between the 
two systems in the mastery of the former process, while in the 
latter and more important process the difference becomes 
marked. 

The attainment of the two systems in Set F, the more diffi- 
cult to the two sets in subtraction, which is the subtraction of 
three-place from three and four-place numbers, is shown in Dia- 



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DIAGRAM XXXVIII — A comparison of the median number of examples solved 
correctly in Set "F" by grades 3 to 8 inclusive in Cleveland and Grand Rapids. 



114 



SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 



gram XXXVIII. The diagram resembles the previous diagrams 
so closely that little comment is necessary. Greater differences 
between the cities appear than in Set A, but not so great as in 
Set M. In complexity it would seem that Set F is intermediate 
between the (5ther two sets. 

Turning to Diagram XXXIX, we find the differences be- 
tween Cleveland and Grand Rapids more marked than in any of 
the other diagrams. Here the scores made in Set L, the most 
complicated and difficult set in multiplication in which four- 
place numbers are multiplied by tAvo-place numbers, are com- 
pared. It seems to be in this type of process that Grand Rapids, 
as compared with Cleveland, shows the greatest superiority. In 
the seventh and eighth grades the pupils in the former city 
actually solve one more example on the average than do pupils 
in the latter city. 

A glance at Diagram XL indicates the weakness of Grand 
Rapids. Here are graphically represented the scores made in 
Set N, the most difficult set in division, the division of five-place 



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DIAGRAM XXXIX — A comparison of the median ni:mber of examples solved 
correctly in Set "L" by grades 3 to 8 inclusive in Cleveland and Grand Rapids. 



TESTS IN ARITHMETIC 



115 



numbers by two-place numbers in which there is much carrying 
to be done and a "trial divisor" is necessary. In Set K, a simpler 
set in long division, Grand Rapids is also inferior to Cleveland; 
in Set I, a set in short division, the two cities show about equal 
attainment. 

It seems, therefore, that Grand Rapids is weak in division 
and especially weak in that type of long division represented by 
Set N. The weakness at this point is very likely due to the fact 
that the type of example found in Set N does not appear in the 
Courtis exercises. Through the Courtis exercises the pupils 
had become familiar with most of the arithmetical operations 
presented to them in this test but here the pupils encountered 
something for which they had not been definitely prepared, as is 
shown in Diagram XL. 

In the application of the four fundamentals to fractions the 
two systems show approximately equal attainment. This is 
shown graphically in Diagram XLI which represents the scores 
made in Set O. An examination of the facts regarding Set H, 



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DIAGRAM XL 

Set "N' 



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comparison of the median number of examples so 
grades 3 to 8 inclusive in Cleveland and Grand 



ved correctly in 
Rapids. 



116 



SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 



the other set of fractions, shows about the same conditions. 

From the comparisons thus made between Grand Rapids 
and Cleveland it is seen that there is little superiority one way 
or the other in the simple combinations; that in the more com- 
plex types of addition, substraction, and multiplication. Grand 
Rapids is distinctly superior ; that in long division Grand Rapids 
shows a decided weakness; and that in fractions the two cities 
are on a par. 

Variations Among the Schools 

The method of comparison which has been employed up to 
this point in bringing out the characteristics of the Grand Rap- 
ids school system can be extended to a study of individual 
schools. Indeed, the comparison of individual schools within 
the system is in many ways more productive than an external 





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DIAGRAM XLI — A comparison of the median number of examples solved correctly 
in Set "D" by grades 3 to 8 inclusive in Cleveland and Grand Rapids. 



TESTS IN ARITHMETIC ll!7 

comparison because such internal comparison can be repeated 
from time to time by the officers of the system itself as a means 
of determining improvement within the system. 

In every school system there is variation from school to 
school as there is variation from class to class in a school and 
from individual to individual in a class. It should be noted, 
however, that variation from individual to individual and vari- 
ation from class to class in the same grade or from school to 
school in the same system are not equally justifiable. Variations 
among individuals, in so far as they are due to native endow- 
ment, are matters over which we have no control, and no attempt 
should be made to abolish them. In the case of variations be- 
tween schools the matter is entirely different. In so far as the 
populations of two schools are different in mental equipment, 
which is ordinarily very slight, different records made by those 
two schools are justifiable. More striking differences in results 
are due to differences in methods of teaching, differences in aim, 
differences in standards, etc., and should be eliminated. 

The elimination of these differences from school to school 
and from class to class is the task of the supervisory staff. This 
staff should have a standard of arithmetical attainment for each 
grade and should know whether or not a particular class in a 
particular school is approaching the standard. If the class in 
question is found not to be approaching the standard adopted, 
the supervisor should determine the reason. That is the distinct 
function of the supervisor if he is to function at all. We are 
justified, therefore, in the conclusion that the variations found in 
arithmetical ability from school to school and from class to 
class in the same school indicate lack of supervision, while uni- 
formity indicates strong supervision. 

In Diagram XLII we find a graphical representation of the 
facts which bear on this question. A comparison of the average 
scores made by thirty-five schools is here exhibited. As ex- 
plained in the diagram, an average score for each school was 
obtained by averaging the median scores made by grades 3-1 
to 8-2 inclusive. 

The diagram shows marked uniformity from school to 
school. As a basis for improvement in supervision this dia- 
gram presents encouragement because of the high degree of uni- 
formity already obtained and a clear indication of the problems 
of the system. The better schools and those at the bottom of the 
diagram should be studied intensively by their principals and 
by the central officers of the system. 

For the purpose of indicating supervision or lack of it in a 
particular grade Diagram XLIII has been devised. In this dia- 




*In these schools the testing was done quite largely by a member of the svirvey staff. 
DIAGRAM XLII — A comparison of the average scores made by 35 schools. An average 
score for each school was obtained by averaging the median scores 
made by .grades 3-1 to 8-2 inclusive. 



TESTS IN ARITHMETIC 



119 



gram a comparison of the records made in the four sets in addi- 
tion, Sets A, E, J, and M, by the 6-2 grades in three schools, 
Sigsbee, Lafayette, and Turner, is made. The figures at the 
points of intersection of the lines represent the median scores 
made by the indicated grades in the indicated sets in all the 
schools. The vertical lines are so drawn as to represent the 
standards of attainment for the several grades in the four sets as 
determined by the median attainment of Grand Rapids children, 
the heavy vertical line representing the standard for the sixth 
grade. 

An examination of this diagram reveals some interesting 
facts. The record of grade 6-2 in Sigsbee indicates a desirable 
condition. The pupils in this class show uniformly high attain- 



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DIAGRAM XLIII — A comparison of records made in the four sets in addition (A, E. 

J, M) by the 6-2 grades in three schools, Sigsbee, Lafayette and Tvirner. 

The figures at the points of intersection of the hnes represent the 

median scores made by the indicated grades in the indicated 

sets in Grand Rapids. 



ment in all four sets. This means proper emphasis on the differ- 
ent types of addition and consequently a well-supervised class. 
A glance at the record made by the same grade in the Lafayette 
School shows a different state of affairs. For some reason or 
other the class is weak in Set E, i. e., in the short-column addi- 
tion, while in Set M this sixth-grade class exhibits eighth-grade 
ability. This shows disproportionate emphasis on certain arith- 
metical process and perhaps disproportionate emphasis on arith- 
metic at the expense of other subjects. Of course, this last 



120 



SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 



statement is only a surmise and is thrown out merely as a word 
of caution. Turning to the diagram again, our record shows the 
sixth grade in the Turner School to be uniformly low in all four 
sets. The uniformity and the position of the class call for care- 
ful study and explanation. Thus, we see that, so far as this 
analysis goes, the Sigsbee class is a well-organized class, doing a 
high grade of work; the Lafayette class is doing generally a 
high grade of work but lacks standards which means loose 
supervision; the Turner class is a uniformly organized class 
doing a low grade of work. 

To further indicate variations among the schools Diagram 
XLIV is presented. In this diagram the median scores made by 
the 4-2 grades in 31 schools and by the 6-2 grades in 25 schools 





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DIAGRAM XLIV — Median scores of 4-2 grades in 31 schools and of 6-2 grades in 
25 schools in Set "A", simple addition. 

in Set A, simple addition, are shown graphically. Each of the 
squares represents a school, and the number in the square is the 
median score made by the grade in the school represented. The 
diagram shows some overlapping between the two grades. Six 
of the sixth grades do no better in the test than some of the 
fourth grades. 

If we may now return to the Cleveland records, an interest- 
ing comparison may be drawn in this matter of overlapping. 
This comparison is made in Diagram XLV in which is graphi- 
cally presented the range of the median scores made in Set A by 
the "middle fifty per cent" of the schools in Cleveland and 
Grand Rapids for each grade. In order to get the first line in 
the diagram for the third grade in Grand Rapids, for example, 
the 32 schools having third grades were arranged in order from 



TESTS IN ARITHMETIC 121 

the highest to the lowest on the basis of the scores made in Set 
A. Since there were 32 schools the eighth and the twenty-fourth 
schools approximately enclosed the middle fifty per cent. The 
scores of these two schools were 12.2 and 14.8 respectively. 
Their difference is 2.6, which is thus taken to represent the 
range of the middle fifty per cent. 

Now, returning to the diagram, we note that for each grade 
the range thus determined is less for Grand Rapids than it is for 





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DIAGRAM XLV- 

cent" of t 


of median scores made in Set "A" by the "middle fifty per 
dIs in Cleveland and Grand Rapids for each grade. 



Cleveland. This means that, so far as the records made in Set A 
are concerned, there is less variation among the schools of Grand 
Rapids than there is among the Cleveland schools. 

Accuracy 

A few words should be said concerning accuracy. Up to 
this point only the examples correctly solved have been counted. 
In all of the grades pupils "attempted" problems which they 
did not solve. We shall, therefore, distinguish from this point 
on "attempts" from "rights". In general, accuracy increases 
with the grades and is lower in the more complex than in the 
simpler operations. In Diagram XLVI we find a comparison of 



122 



SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 



the median number of examples attempted and the median 
number of examples solved correctly in Set M by the several 
grades. Set M was chosen because it shows the typical relation 
between the "rights" and "attempts" which exists in the four 
fundamentals, which include all sets except Sets H and O. The 
one fact to be brought out is the uniform progress in both 
"attempts" and "rights". 

In Diagram XLVII we find an entirely different sort of 
relation existing between the two curves which represent the 







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DIAGRAM XLVI — A comparison of the median number of examples attempted and 
the median number of examples solved correctly in Set "M" by the grades indicated. 

median number of examples attempted and the median number 
of examples solved correctly in Set O by the grades indicated. 
The uniform progress in both "attempts" and "rights" char- 
acteristic of the fundamentals is here utterly lacking. Up to 
grade 7-1 the number of examples attempted increases more 
rapidly than does the number solved correctly, but from that 



TESTS IN ARITHMETIC 
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DIAGRAM XLVII — A comparison of the median number of examples attempted and 
the median number of examples solved correctly in Set O by the grades indicated. 

point on the number of "attempts" increases less rapidly, and 
in both eighth grades there is an actual decrease of "attempts" 
accompanied in 8-1 by an increase of "rights". All of this goes 



124 



SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 



to reinforce what was said earlier in the report concerning the 
need of approaching the teaching of fractions in a manner quite 
different from that used in teaching the four fundamentals. 

Furthermore, the studies set forth in the foregoing para- 
graphs indicate the way in which a school system ought to ana- 
lyze its results so as to check its methods. Only by a care- 
ful analysis of those lines in which the school is working can 
methods of teaching be refined. 

Some Facts About Age and Promotion 

In connection with the arithmetic tests a large number of 
facts was secured regarding the promotion and non-promotion 
of pupils taking the tests. In Diagram XLVIII there is a com- 
parison of the records made by three groups of 50 pupils each in 



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DIAGRAM XLVIII — A comparison of the records made by three groups of pupils in 

grade 8-2. The "fast" pupils are those who have skipped one or more grades ; 

the "slow" pupils are those who have repeated one or more grades; 

and the "regular" pupils are those who have neither skipped 

nor repeated. Data from SO pupils in each group. 



TESTS IN ARITHMETIC 



125 



grade 8-2, a "fast" group, a "slow" group, and a "regular" group. 
The "fast" pupils are those who have skipped one or more 
grades ; the "slow" pupils are those who have repeated one or 
more grades ; and the "regular" pupils are those who have neither 
skipped nor repeated. In securing the 50 pupils for each group, 
tlie same nurnber for each group was taken from each school. 
Thus, if three "fast" pupils were taken from the Union School, 
there were also three "slow" and three "regular" pupils taken 
from that school. The number was limited because of the 
mechanical difficulty of handling the material. -The cases used 
for the comparison are numerous enough to assure a fair samp- 
ling of the whole system. 

The diagram shows that in accuracy and in speed the pupils 
who have skipped one or more grades are superior to those who 



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DIAGRAM XLIX — A comparison of the records made by three groups of pupils in 
grade 8-2. The 150 pupils whose records furnish the data for diagram 
XLVIII were redistributed into three groups on the basis of age, the 
50 youngest being put in one group, the SO oldest in a second 
group, and the remaining 50 in a third group, desig- 
nated in the diagram as "normal," 



126 



SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 



have- made just normal progress, and the latter are in turn super- 
ior to those who have repeated. These differences appear to be 
more pronounced in Set O than for the test as a whole, and this 
is especially significant because Set O demands a higher type of 
mental activity than do the other arithmetical operations. 

These 150 pupils were redistributed into three groups on 
the basis of age, the 50 youngest being put in one group, the 50 
oldest in a second group, and the remaining 50 in a. third group 
designated as "normal". The records made by these three 
groups are compared in Diagram XLIX. The surprising fact 
brought out here is that the differences between the two extreme 
groups were not only not diminished by this redistribution but 
were actually increased ; that is, the ''young" pupils are more 





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DIAGRAM L — A comparison of the records made by two grovips of pvipils in grade 8-2, 

the one group containing those pupils who had failed or repeated 

a grade below the 6th grade, the other those who had 

failed or repeated in the 6th grade or above. 



TESTS IN ARITHMETIC 



127 



superior to the "old" pupils than the "fast" pupils are to the 
"slow" pupils. 

The important consideration in this connection is that under 
our present system pupils are often held back on account of their 
youth. This is certainly not desirable. Special provision should 
be made for the bright pupil so that he may make the most rapid 
progress consistent with his physical welfare. 

In Diagram L another comparison is presented between 
the 'records made by two other groups of pupils in grade 8-2. 
Those pupils who had ever repeated a grade were divided into 
two divisions, the one containing those who had repeated a 
grade below the sixth, the other containing those who had 
repeated a grade above the fifth. The diagram shows a slight 
difference in favor of the group repeating below the sixth 





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DIAGRAM LI — A comparison of the records made by three groups of pupils in grade 

7-2. The "regular" pupils are those who have made normal progress, neither 

repeating nor skipping a grade ; the "irregular" pupils are those who 

have repeated because of transfer from one school to another, 

sickness, etc. ; and the "failures" are pupils who have 

repeated because of failure. Data 

from 54 pupils in each group. 



128 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

grade. This may be due to recovery from the cause of failure, or 
it may be due to a difference in the causes of failure in the lower 
and upper grades. This latter interpretation may be inferred 
from a statement made by a pupil when he wrote as an explan- 
ation of non-promotion that he "did not realize what it meant." 

In order to see the relation between causes of repeating and 
records made in the test we now turn to Diagram LI. Here we 
find a comparison of the records made by three groups of pupils 
in grade 7-2, the "regular" pupils, the "irregular" pupils, and the 
"failures". The "regular" pupils are those who have made normal 
progress, neither skipping nor repeating a grade ; the "irregular" 
pupils are those who have repeated because of transfer from one 
school to another, sickness, etc. ; and the "failures" are pupils 
who have repeated because of failure. 

An examination of the diagram shows the "regular" pupils 
to have made better records than the "irregular" pupils, and the 
latter to have made better records than the "failures". The 
really significant feature of the diagram is the difference which 
is shown to exist between the first two groups. Why did the 
"regular" pupils do better than the "irregular" pupils? It would 
seem that, since the pupils in the latter group repeated because of 
transfer, sickness, of some similar cause, "repeating" itself may 
be largely responsible for the differences. The repeating of a 
grade, whatever the cause, cannot fail to react upon the child. It 
is therefore seen to be highly desirable in the light of the facts 
here presented to study carefully the whole system of promotion. 



CHAPTER VII 

PENMANSHIP 



Frank 5. Freeman 



Grand Rapids adopted about five years ago a new system of 
penmanship. Up to that time the writing was not regarded as 
satisfactory. A part of the difificulty was thought to be due to 
the inability of the teachers themselves to write well enough to 
furnish a good example to the pupils. Accordingly, by action of 
the Board of Education, all teachers in the elementary schools 
were required, as a condition of promotion, to secure a Palmer 
certificate. This rule has been recently enforced with strictness 
and the writing in the schools is reported to be greatly improved. 

The supervision of the handwriting under the system now in 
force is conducted by an agency outside the school organization. 
The compensation for this supervision is obtained through the 
sale of writing manuals to the pupils and, to a less degree, 
through the receipt of fees from the teachers in return for certi- 
ficate of attainment in penmanship. 

The school system is relieved by the present plan of some 
expense in the matter of supervision, but the cost of the writing 
books and the fee exacted from the teachers is, of course, an 
offset to this apparent economy. The community as a whole 
pays for supervision in this case but there is danger that certain 
important problems will not be fully understood by the teachers 
and principals, or be solved, because of the absence of vigorous 
study of methods within the system. 

In order to study the handwriting in the schools, specimens 
were collected from approximately all of the children in the 
elementary schools. Two types of specimens were collected, 
one of which was obtained through the formal test and the other 
through a composition test. 

- In preparation for the formal test, the pupils were required 
to memorize selections suited to their grade, the selections being 
uniform for the same grade throughout the city. At the time 



130 



SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 



of the test, the pupils wrote for two minutes continuously. It is 
possible to determine the speed by the amount written in this 
definite time. The quality was determined by comparison with 
the Ayres Handwriting Scale. In the composition test, nothing 
was said to the pupils about their writing and they did not know 
that this was to be tested. The speed, of course, could not be 
measured in this test. 

The method of making the test was thoroughly explained 
to the principals in conference. The tests were made by the 
writer in nine of the thirty-six buildings, and the principals made 
the tests themselves in the other buildings. The results from 



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GrauA T?aplds _ 

O-VeTo-cje d^ apper \ttX\ W St, cvtles 

G.\/eT<xoe of 5fe cities ^ 

DIAGRAM LII — Comparison of the speed of writing in Grand Rapids and in 56 cities. 



PENMANSHIP 131 

the nine schools tested by the writer do not differ materially 
from those of the others. 

The papers were all collected and graded by one person un- 
der the supervision of the writer. The grader is a man who had 
been prepared by previous experience and training to do this 
work. All of the papers from the formal test, as well as the 
composition test, were graded and the speed of writing calcu- 
lated. 

Table XXV presented the results of the tests for each grade 
in the system as a whole. 

TABLE XXV 

Showing Median Speed of Writing and Median Rank in Form in 
Writing and Composition Tests for Each Grade in the Grand Rapids 
Schools. 

GRADE II III IV V VI VII VIII 

Speed 33.5 50.1 59.3 64.9 73.0 77.9 84.3 

Form (writing test) 29.4 34.5 44.4 51.7 58.2 61.4 68.4 

Form (composition test) 28.8 33.0 42.1 54.5 60.7 62.3 67.0 

This table is to be read as follows : The median speed of 
writing in the second grades of the whole system is 33.5 letters 
per minute. The median rank in the form of the second grade 
writing is 29.4 and the rank in the form in the composition test 
is 28.8. 

In order to bring out the significance of these results from 
the system as a whole, they are compared graphically with the 
average standing in speed and form of the writing of 55 and 56 
large cities respectively in Diagrams LII and LIII. In Diagram 
LII a comparison is made of the speed of the writing and in 
Diagram LIII of the form. The form of the specimens from 
the 55 cities was carefully graded by the same man who graded 
the Grand Rapids papers so that the two records are directly 
comparable. 

It is clear from these diagrams that the system in general 
stands high in writing. This statement holds without quaUfica- 
tion with reference to speed. In all grades but the second, the 
speed is above the average of the upper half of the 56 cities used 
as a standard, and in the second grade, it is above the average 
of the 56 cities. The form is approximately equal to the aver- 
age of 55 cities in grades four to eight but in the second and 
third grades it is considerably below the average. 

There is a divergence in practice in these grades throughout 
the country, and Grand Rapids represents one of two contrasted 
types, in which the standard of form is below, and the speed 
above, the average. There is rather strong sentiment among 



132 



SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 



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_4L^Lu^s.> lf:ii]B|s.=...=. 



DIAGRAM LIII — Comparison of the form in handwriting in Grand Rapids and in 

55 cities. 

primary teachers in Grand Rapids and in other systems that the 
practice represented in Grand Rapids is not so well adapted to 
the primary grades as is the contrasted practice, in which the 
child is allowed to write more slowly, and with greater attention 
to form. This report will not pass judgment on this issue, but 
does suggest that it would be well to permit controlled experi- 
mentation along the line which is represented in other systems 
for the purpose of testing the alternative policy with reference 
to the lower grades. That the system of alien supervision does 



PENMANSHIP 



133 



not readily permit such trial of alternative methods constitutes 
a difficulty in such supervision. 

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DIAGRAM LIV — Comparison of speed in handwriting in St. Louis and in 56 cities. 



134 



SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 



form in the primary grades represents a policy which is typical 
of some systems of teaching, while other systems get better 
form in the primary grades, and obtain equally good form in the 
upper grades. The speed in Grand Rapids is superior to the 
average throughout, but not rnore so in the lower than the up- 
per grades. 



\7^ 


M 1 i 1 1 1 ; ' 1 1 : 1 M ' 1 ' 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 


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^^y-^;^¥— -f y=-=--n — 



DIAGRAM LV — Comparison of form in handwriting in St. Louis and in 55 Cities. 



PENMANSHIP 135 

A more extreme example of the same condition is found in a 
survey of the writing in St. Louis as shown in Diagrams LIV 
and LV. In that city the speed in the third and fourth grades is 
relatively very high and the form correspondingly low. The 
supervisor and the principals in St. Louis regard the method 
which has been used in the past in the primary grades as defect- 
ive, and are at work upon a modification of the methods of teach- 
ing for these grades. Li particular they recognize finger move- 
ment as the type of movement which is adapted to the primary 
child, and are attempting to develop the proper use of this move- 
ment instead of allowing the child to use it in an unsupervised 
manner, which he will otherwise do. This modification has been 
made as high as the third grade and its extension to the fourth 
grade is contemplated. This modification is in process of being 
made and is apparently too recent to affect the children's writing 
habits very greatly. To repeat, the condition which is repre- 
sented by the results in these two systems is contrasted with 
the general practice, and is strongly in contrast with the practice 
in some systems, in which the form in the lower grades is as 
much above the average as it is below in these cities. Such a 
divergence as this constitutes a strong demand for comparative 
experiments under the control of supervisory tests, in order to 
determine which practice is the more advantageous, both for the 
primary grades themselves and for the school as a whole. 

The method of teaching writing now followed in Grand 
Rapids accomplishes good results, as pointed out above, by the 
time the pupils reach the upper grades. The suggestions made 
in the last paragraph could, if desired, be incorporated into the 
work of the schools without sacrificing any of the virtues of the 
present system. In order to bring about these changes in the 
most effective way, however, the problem would have to be 
taken up in Grand Rapids itself and will have to be dealt with 
through careful study of the best methods of treating the child- 
ren in the schools. This is one reason for urging that super- 
vision in penmanship be not given over entirely to a system that 
is independent of the schools. 

A comparison of the results from the composition test and 
the formal writing test shown in Diagram LVI, indicates that 
the pupils write as well when they are not engaged in writing 
drill as when they are. This may be due to the fact that they 
wrote more slowly in the composition test; but at any rate, it 
indicates that the quality of writing obtained in the writing 
period is not an artificial and abstract product. This is a situa- 
tion which is to be commended. 

Table XXVI presents the results of the tests in the indi- 



136 



SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 




Groae 2/X 



Wrd'ir\<^ test . 

CovMposltioY»."te5t 



DIAGRAM LVI — Comparison of the rank in the formal writing test and the 
composition test. 

vidual schools. This table should be read as follows: In the 
Alexander School, the second grade wrote in the formal 
test with a median speed of 26. In the formal test, the form was 
graded 34. In the composition test, the form was graded 27. In 
the third grade, there was a great increase in speed, deterioration 
in the form in the formal writing test, and slight improvement 
in the form in the composition test. If the columns are read 



PENMANSHIP 



137 



Ww 


u 




t 


U^ 


xn 



>Pi| 
WO 












qW 
HO 



Mm 

go 

So 



Oa to «*5 CMCM <^ CM 



rt iri O] re !7\ lO t~Ni 
ce ro ro (N CM •* CM 



CM fO <M CQ re CO •* 



; re li^ ON re 00 T-H OM~^ CM m T-H CM t^ 00 re 00 O irit^ lO 0\ 0\ liDin 
; CM re CM re CO CM CM CM re re '^ re CM CM re CM re CM CM OQ CM CM IreCM 

;re^reC<lt^re0000C<U^O(M<?\C7s^0t^OC3\\OiDCMi-iV0t^V0 
iCMrererefMCMtMCMrere-^reC^CMreCSireCMCMCMrererereCSl 

!t^re-^'*re'*0000rea\0000reore'*0\CM(Mrerev0v00\'* 
;cMrerecM'*rerecM'*CMrerecM'*re'*CM<Mrerererererere 



k w o bflr?*-;^ 






13 
qH O 



1-1 ^ 



<«UUUPWWfefepiHWMMHWjS^Ofep4P4y2c/3y2c/3(;oaiH;>;>;>i-->wt3 



.138 



SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 



vertically, various schools can be compared with each other. 
This table is the basis of selected Diagrams in plate LVIII. 

Of equal value with the comparison of the Grand Rapids 
schools with other school systems is the internal comparisons of 
schools within the system. To faciUtate such comparisons, Dia- 
gram LVII has been prepared. This represents by a single 
graph the improvement from grade to grade in both speed and 



Torrn 












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in 

















^pe4-/o Zo 30 H-0 5-0 Go 7o ^0 

DIAGRAM Lyil — Median speed and form in handwriting for each grade of the Grand 
Rapids Schools. Form on vertical scale speed on horizontal scale. 

form. The position of a point, representing a grade, indicates 
by its horizontal position the speed, and by its vertical position 
the form of writing in that grade. The general direction of the 
line which connects gradepoint with gradepoint is forward in 
both dimensions for every grade. 

It .will be noted, however, that the progress between the 



PENMANSHIP 



139 



So 



70 



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50 



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30 



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30 4^0 ^d? 6^ 7c? ^^ 



DIAGRAM LVIII-A — Median speed and form in handwriting for each grade of 6 
selected schools. Form on vertical scale, speed on horizontal scale. 



140 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 





"T" 1 ' 1 M ■ I 1 i III 


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•-• — =i»-_ —TT i i 1 M 
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30 lio So 60 70 Ko 90 /oo no 

DIAGRAM LVIII-B — Median speed and form in handwriting for each grade of 6 
selected schools. Form on vertical scale, speed on horizontal scale. 



PENMANSHIP 



141 





1 1 ' ■ ■ ■ ri ■- 




^,J_. ■ — ± 




\z: 1 


10 


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sij[i[ 



t^ 



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30 'io 5^0 (^0 70 Zo ^o loo ifo 



DIAGRAM LVIII-C — Median speed and form in handwriting for each grade of 6 
selected schools. Form on vertical scale, speed on horizontal scale. 



142 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

second and third grades is more pronounced in the direction of 
speed than in the direction of form. 

Diagrams for individual schools can be constructed on the 
same plan and make it possible for principals in their buildings 
to study the progress exhibited from grade to grade. Such pro- 
gress is shown for several schools in Diagram LVIII. 

A few cases illustrating types of progress may be discussed 
briefly. Congress and Sigsbee show great emphasis on speed. 
Indeed Sigsbee gets tangled up in the upper grades because of 
such great emphasis on speed in the sixth grade, and low em- 
phasis upon form in the seventh. Coit and Hall emphasize 
form, the latter somewhat irregularly. Palmer shows a radical 
change in emphasis in the upper grades. Lexington shows 
striking irregularities. 

Other schools can readily construct diagrams on this^ pat- 
tern, from Table XXVI, which gives the figures for all schools. 
The school diagrams can also be brought into direct comparison 
with the standards determined in 56 cities. Diagrams LIX aild 
LX show how this comparison can be made for the Widdicomb 
School which is high in speed and low in form, and the Pine 
School which is better than the average in speed, low in form in 
the second and third grades, but very high in the grades above 
the third. 

Special comment may be made on the comparison between 
the Hall School, represented in Diagram LXI, and the Widdi- 
comb School in Diagram LIX. In the Hall School, the problem 
of supervision is met in a special manner throughout the depart- 
mentalizing of writing in connection with music. These two 
subjects are taught by one person throughout the school. In 
the Widdicomb School there appears to be a minimum of super- 
vision due to the fact that the principal foUov/s the policy of 
allowing the individual teachers large latitude. The contrast 
betweon the results in the two schools is striking and is a re- 
flection of the policies of much and little supervision. In the 
Hall School there is a fair balance between speed and form, with 
the exception of the somewhat excessive development of form in 
the upper grades. In the Widdicomb School form is sacrificed 
to speed. In the Hall School the progress is consistent with 
only slight exceptions. In the Widdicomb School the speed 
decreases steadily from the fourth to the seventh grades and 
the form is highly erratic at the sixth grade. 



PENMANSHIP 



143 



S^eeJl 



K. 



A^^ 


65r 








ss 








Form —Composition Isst-l^i'dJt'comb Sahool — <* — « — 

Form - Wrih'Tio Test- Wi'dJicomb School 

Forjri — ff^ Cctces 

Opeed- l/Vi'dJlcoTnb Sc/fooL 

Speed- S(> Cc^c'es — — — — 



DIAGRAM LIX — Comparison of speed and form in handwriting at Widdicomb School 
with speed and form in 56 cities. 



144 



SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, AlICHIGAN 




Gra,de 2 . ^ 



Test'- //'tjs School — 9 — o 



Form- y\/rih'r>a Test -Pine SchooL 

Lorm^ 65 Cities 

Opeeei - 7t'n& School 

Speed' S4. Citces. 



DIAGRAM LX — Comparison of speed and form in handwriting at Pine School with 
speed and form in 56 cities. 



PENMANSHIP 




G-reiJe Z I / 



¥ ' 5- 6 7 8 

j~orin — Cowposti'i'o'ri '7es't—)-/a.// School - 
Form- Wr'tt>7i^T^st- )-/clJ/ School — 

For TV- ^S Cih'es _ , 

3pe9ci — ///?,// School 

SpcQii - 5"^ Cf'f/ e's — — -- — — — 



DIAGRAM LXI — Comparison of speed and form in handwriting at Hall School with 
speed and form in 56 cities. 



146 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

The lack of uniformity in practice represented by the results 
shown in the foregoing diagrams indicates that there is need 
for improvement in, the supervision of the writing of the schools. 
The supervisory agency should be the instrument to help the 
individual schools and grades study their records in comparison 
with those of the other schools in the system through some such 
tests as those which were used in this survey. It is not the in- 
tention of this report to insist that this can be done only through 
a change in the present method of supervision. The results of 
the present system are in the main excellent. But the defects 
which have been pointed out are real and important, and they are 
defects which are particularly apt to occur when the supervisory 
agency is not in close touch with the system. 

The results from the three junior high schools are signifi- 
cant. The teaching of writing in these schools is somewhat in- 
terfered with by the fact that the pupils are given here a more 
varied type of work than those in the elementary schools. In the 
case of the South High School, this has, up to the present time, 
interfered with any systematic writing drills, and this condition 
has the very obvious effect of lowering the efficiency of the 
writing in respect to form. In the Junior High School, writing 
lessons are given and the results are as good as in the system as 
a whole. The same thing is true of the work in the Union High 
School. It appears from these facts that the pupils have not had 
sufficient training in the first six grades to make it advisable to 
omit drill in handwriting when they enter the junior high school. 

In many of the rooms in which the writing was observed, the 
desks were not adapted in height to the size of the pupils as 
well as they should have been. In a system in which adjustable 
desks are not used, this can be accomplished by having enough 
desks of different sizes in the same room to accommodate prac- 
tically all the pupils in the room. 

The lighting in some of the older buildings cannot be made 
as good as it should be without radical change in the buildings. 
In a number of the rooms observed, however, the lighting is un- 
necessarily bad because the desks face in such a direction that the 
windows are to the right of the children. This bad condition 
should be remedied by placing the teacher's desk at the opposite 
end of the room and reversing the children's desks. This defect 
was observed for example in the following rooms : Hall School, 
grades 7-2, 7-1, and grades 5-2, 5-1 ; Widdicomb School, grades 
3 and 6-1. 



CHAPTER VIII 

MUSIC 



J. Beach Cragun 



Inasmuch as the surveys of music in St. Louis, Mo., and 
Grand Rapids, Mich., are the first to be made, no well-grounded 
scales of measurement have been developed. These two sur- 
veys, then, and the results of a survey of a single Chicago school 
are the only three in which the same scales have been tried out. 
Comparison of these with other systems, then, is not possible, 
except through personal estimate. 

The formal side of any instruction is the only one which 
lends itself to the process of measurement. The formal aspect 
of music is represented in sight reading, and ability to read at 
sight may be subdivided into ability to comprehend and repro- 
duce rhythms and the various diatonic and chromatic intervals. 

This formal phase of music instruction — sight reading — is 
accurately estimated. Other phases are estimated in terms of 
personal observation and opinion. 

Recreational Aspect 

One of the chief values of instruction in music is here repre- 
sented. The music teacher, as no other, must secure and hold the 
willing and hearty co-operation of the pupils. He may more and 
more organize his work in the recreational direction for the pur- 
pose of securing this co-operation, or he may organize too far 
in the other direction for the purpose of raising the standards 
expressed in his course of study. Neglect of either is but Httle 
less disastrous than an ill-balanced recognition of both. 

The elementary schools of Grand Rapids exhibit a most 
excellent balance between the recreational and the educational. 
Practically every child sings, and the enjoyment of their singing 
was evident, sincere, and very nearly universal. I believe this 
to be due, largely, to the exceptional success of the system in the 
early elimination of monotones. It is surely evident that the 



148 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

small amount of class time given over individually to the back- 
ward children is well spent. It not only secures the elimination 
of nearly all monotones, but also, in the Grand Rapids system, 
does this very early in the grades. Then, too, with the early 
development of ability in the handling of the voice on the part of 
all members, the class as a whole springs forward in a develop- 
ment otherwise impossible. All this is very evident in these 
schools. The Grand Rapids system develops the musical ability 
of each child with remarkable uniformity. 

And this is the thing in which we are most interested. So 
many music systems do little for the less musical child. Show 
me the results of the poorest third of a music class and I can esti- 
mate the upper groups, as well as the care with which the v/ork 
of the preceding years was done. 

The result of this procedure in Grand Rapids is that the 
amount of individual variation within a given group is reduced. 
One of the strongest proofs of the fact that music and its pre- 
sentation are not organized as are many other subjects is to be 
found in the customary and significant, tremendous individual 
variations within given groups. Hence the comparative uni- 
formity of development in musical ability exhibited in Grand 
Rapids is all the more noteworthy. 

The Grand Rapids high schools do not require music, and 
their choral and other musical organizations are all on a volun- 
tary membership basis. They are not, then, to be judged as 
compared with work required of all pupils, but will be taken up 
under a later heading. 

In summary, the work observed in Grand Rapids certainly 
meets the requirements of good work in music so far as the 
recreational element is concerned. And this is due in no small 
degree to the noteworthy success of the system in its early elimi- 
nation of monotones — in its early reduction of the extent of 
individual differences. Practically all the children sing and en- 
joy their singing — and this is of first importance. 

The Educational Aspect 

The educational aspect of any instruction may be pointed 
out in the development of certain habits, or abilities. Music 
classes — as all others — -should develop individual attention. A 
cultural type of enjoyment, a refined "leisure-time occupation", 
is also to be created through pleasant experience with the best 
of carefully selected music. AFl these, and also the development 
of the appreciation of the rendition of other musicians, are pe- 
cuHarly fostered through the development of habits of good tone 
quality and interpretation in singing. Children trained along 



MUSIC 149 

the lines above mentioned are well equipped but they need one 
thing more — the abiUty readily to take up new and more ad- 
vanced material after leaving the school which has developed in 
them the desire so to do. Hence the necessity, from but one 
standpoint, for thorough training in sight reading. 

The problem of individual concentration, in so far as it is 
peculiar to the music class, does not frequently present itself 
below the eighth grade. A single exception was met (in one of 
the seventh grades) in which it existed in any widespread form. 
Otherwise it was found only here and there, and then in the case 
of pupils musically unable, not representative of the system. For 
instance, I examined eight-one pupils in the first half of the 
eighth grade and seventy-two in the second half at the Union 
School, Of these, eleven pupils did not comprehend a single one 
of the thirty-seven rhythms given. After seeing the work of the 
lower grades in Grand Rapids I can not believe that theseeleven 
children grew up in the system. 

Nearly all the work in music, in summary, exhibited that 
personal concentration from each members of the class without 
which no musical organization will do its best work, or will 
make its most rapid progress. Nor is this the individual appli- 
cation of members of a class in mathematics, or literature, or 
history: — it is a concentration which is individual yet social, with 
initiative subject to the will of another, a concentration coupled 
with recognition of the individual as but a part of a larger 
whole. From its very nature a high type of group work in music 
would seem to demand a greater amount of concentration, if 
anything, than some of the other subjects. And on the whole this 
demand is met in this system. 

The second phase of the educational aspect was expressed 
above in these words : "A cultural type of enjoyment, a refined 
'leisure-time occupation' is to be created through pleasant ex- 
perience with the best carefully selected music." This oppor- 
tunity is afforded the children of Grand Rapids for they have not 
only vocal, but also instrumental training. Reading as well as 
they do, I believe they could be given a great deal more material 
to advantage, but this will be taken up under the discussion of 
sight reading. The instrumental work will be brought out un- 
der the heading of special organizations. 

So far, we have had in mind that "best of carefully selected 
music" which the children themselves produce. Yet that vocal 
or instrumental music which is usable in the school is but a 
portion of the whole field of vocal or instrumental literature, nor 
do these two exhaust the library of the musical compositions 
that are of essential worth. All branches of the musical art 
should be brought before the children in the public schools. 



150 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

Perhaps this could not be done, even in an elementary fashion 
in the grades alone. Let the work be continued in the high 
schools or junior high schools, for if the cultural and other 
benefits of music study are as universal as commonly believed 
why not continue systematic music instruction into the upper 
school? 

The use of victrolas, player pianos, etc., has by no means 
come to its own. They might well be systematically used to the 
end of rounding out, of completing, the acquaintance of the child 
with some of the best in all branches or at least the chief 
branches of the musical art. 

The third phase of the educational aspect goes behind this 
consideration of the materials used and considers the way in 
which they are used. In this I mean to refer especially to tone 
quality and interpretation. 

The tone quality is good, in several schools superior, and 
of remarkably even character throughout. But a single group 
doing decidedly inferior tone work was found and this may have 
been shown at a disadvantage. Mr. Beattie is fortunate in hav- 
ing a system not so large as to render it impossible to keep in 
intimate touch with the various units. And in the above-men- 
tioned and remarkably uniform good tone quality is evidenced 
this characteristic outcome of careful and competent super- 
vision. 

The matter of good interpretation, too, is carefully handled 
though the results are not so exceptionally noteworthy as those 
in the matter of tone quality mentioned above. Artistic inter- 
pretation of children's songs is a matter. in which the ordinary 
teacher and usually the average supervisor needs capable assist- 
ance. The interpretative work visited was good and more than 
meets the general requirements of the work. It is only to be 
hoped that Mr. Beattie will be able to bring this to the level of 
the superior type of result mentioned elsewhere. 

The fourth and last phase of the educational aspect takes up 
the matter of sight reading. While the value of this ability is 
self-apparent it is not a matter of first importance, nor is it made 
so in these schools. Sight reading rests on the ability of the 
child to interpret or duplicate various grades of rhythms and 
intervals. Scales were made out in each of these and tests given 
the children in such a way that each child in each test — and 
very few took both — could make a possible one hundred points. 
Three thousand seven hundred and twelve children in St. Louis, 
Grand Rapids, and the University Elementary and High Schools 
of the University of Chicago were given the tests. A tabulation 
of these results established certain medians, or representative 



MUSIC 



151 



scores. These together with the records made by the 1587 Grand 
Rapids children given the tests appear below : 



TABLE XXVII 

Median scores for Sight Reading in Music in Grades 5-1 to 8-2 In- 
clusive for 3712 Children in St. Louis, Grand Rapids, and the University 
Elementary and High Schools of the University of Chicago. 

Grade V-1 V-2 VI-1 VI-2 VII-1 VII-2 VIII-1 VIII-2 

INTERVALS 

Lowest Score 00000000 

M-«^i-a« 1 {5 9 8 10 11 . 9 9 14 

^nnrlfSCro of group ^9 16 16 18 17 20" 18 22 

^^^^^ ' (15 27 24 28 27 31 30 32 

Highest Score 34 82 93 69 54 96 88 66 

RHYTHM 

Lowest Score 10000000 

ivr^^- „, ( 5 10 10 10 8 6 10 10 

q;^T-« f 50% of group ^11 17 16 17 17 13 17 19 
^^°^^ ' (16 26 24 27 27 24 26 27 

Highest Score 25 67 41 67 78 61 57 44 



TABLE XXVIII 

Median Scores for Sight Reading in Music in Grades 5-1 to 8-2 in- 
clusive for 1,587 children in the Grand Rapids Schools. 

Grade V-1 V-2 VI-1 VI-2 VII-1 VII-2 VIII-1 VIII-2 

INTERVALS 

Lowest Score 00000000 

c . ( 4 9 7 12 12 9 8 11 

^^.ifa„ f50% of group ^11 16 14 19 17 18 19 21 

Median ( (iS 29 25 30 27 31 29 26 

Highest Score 28 82 64 69 50 96 48 54 

RHYTHM 

Lowest Score 10000000 

,, ,. , ( 5 10 6 8 6 5 10 7 

^ledian (5Q^^ Qf -?11 15 13 13 11 12 17 18 
Score J (16 22 17 21 18 20 24 28 

Highest Score 25 42 33 40 46 45 46 47 

The grades are grouped by semesters, or half years, and the 
number given is the median or most representative record made 
in a given group. A comparison of the two tables will show that 
the pupils examined are normal in their ability in intervals but 
below normal in their ability in rhythm. 

The following diagram based on the figures given above 
makes clear the situation. 

An analysis of the Grand Rapids results shows that while 
the rhythm curve is below average the interval curve would be 



152 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 




DIAGRAM LXII — Median scores for sight reading in music for 1587 children 
Grand Rapids and for 3712 children in St. Louis, Grand Rapids and 
the School of Education, Chicago. 



MUSIC 153 

considerably above average were it not for the results coming 
from Turner School. This is shown in the following table of 
medians. 

TABLE XXIX 

Comparison of median scores in intervals for the Turner School of 
Grand Rapids, the composite group of schools and the best score in 
Grand Rapids. 

Grade V-1 V-2 VI-1 VI-2 VII-1 VII-2 VIII-1 VIII-2 

Turner Score 4 9 .... 17 14 9 

Composite Score ( 

(St. Louis, Chicago -^9 16 16 18 17 - 20 18 22 

and Grand Rapids).... ( 
Best Grand Rapids 

Score 15* 25** 17* 30* 18* 27* 25* 22* 

* Sigsbee School. 
** Lafayette School. 



No other school turned in results so consistently below 
average as did the Turner School. Its cause I cannot point out 
but it is surely evident that here is a weak spot which needs 
strengthening. 

The sight reading, then, seems for the most part to be made 
up of a little above the average strength in intervals, coupled 
with weakness in the handling of rhythms. Yet I saw certain 
classes do rather remarkable work in sight reading from their 
books, though very few classes were tried out in this manner. 
The contradiction of figures and observation may in part be ex- 
plained as follows. 

The children do not sing a great many songs, but they sing 
all these well. I had constantly the impression that I could call 
on a class for any song they had had all year, and find them able 
to sing it from memory. There is great value in redoing what 
has been previously done in careful manner. But the develop- 
ment of ability to read music calls for two steps: (1) slow 
careful preliminary steps, followed or interspersed between (2) 
practice in actual rapid reading in which there is not much stop 
or drill on hard places or mistakes. I believe Mr. Beattie could 
give his schools throughout more material, to be used in the 
latter fashion, and to great advantage. I believe its absence to 
be the cause of the marks made by the children in the tests. 

Special Organizations 

The schools have rather more and larger special organiza- 
tions than the average. This is due to the vigor with which in- 
strumental work is pushed and to the absence of required music 
in high school. All are doing good work apparently but of es- 



154 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

pedal worth is the orchestra at Central High School. Few high 
schools have better. 

Conclusion 

The music work in the schools of Grand Rapids meets 
many if not all the requirements of good work. Much of the 
work is done in distinctly superior manner. The granting of 
high-school credits for outside music work has been in operation 
for some time, and has proved very successful. Mr. Beattie 
would do well to organize in writing his methods of granting 
credit for the benefit of the many other cities about to grant 
similar credit. And this is no light task, for it involves the 
making out of approved courses of study, as well as the writing 
out of the various details of the operation of the scheme. Such 
contributions, based on the experience of successful operation, 
are necessary to the raising of the cause of public-school music 
to a science. 



CHAPTER IX 

INSTRUCTION IN THE ELE 
MENTARY SCHOOLS 



John F. Bobbitt 



An aggregate of about two weeks was spent by the writer 
in observation of the work of the elmentary grades and in con- 
ferences with teachers, principals, and supervisors, concerning 
the work of those grades. For this purpose about twenty of the 
larger schools were visited. The time was insufficient for an 
exhaustive examination into the work of any single building. 
The city uses, however, a uniform course of study, uniform series 
of textbooks in most subjects, and the work of the various build- 
ings is well supervised from the central administrative offices. 
The result is a very considerable uniformity of practice in the 
majority of the subjects, the work differing from room to room 
more in quality of the teaching than in course of study or intent 
of the work. It is felt, therefore, that the observations of por- 
tions of the work in all the grades in many buildings has resulted 
in a fair conception of what the city is attempting to do, what 
it is actually doing, and here and there as to certain things that 
might be done by way of improving the programs or' the prac- 
tices in the work. 

In general, however, it must first be said that the profes- 
sional school people of the city are fully alive to the nature of 
current educational problems; that they have been and are in- 
dustriously and conscientiously grappling with the problems ; 
and that, like progressive professional people throughout the 
country, as they adapt and adjust the work year after year, are 
solving the various problems. The best ideas already to be 
found in the work of the city in connection with the teaching of 
each of the subjects cover about everything that we can here 
propose. Our primary duty turns out to be largely the agreeable 
one of choosing ideas and proposals already advanced by the 



156 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

most thoughtful and progressive teachers and supervisors of the 
city, and of reenforcing some of the most important of these with 
recommendations here and there. 

Occasionally we shall criticize. And we shall do this with 
the greater good-will because of the fact that on the whole the 
work observed was of commendable character. In many respects 
it falls far short of the character of the work that will in all prob- 
ability be found in Grand Rapids twenty years hence. But, on 
the other hand, it is now far in advance of the character of work 
found in the city twenty years ago. As we point out short- 
comings, therefore, it is not in any spirit of adverse fault-finding 
criticism. We are simply pointing to possibilities of further 
improvement. We are simply attempting to reenforce the argu- 
ments and efforts of those now working within the system who 
are attempting to secure these very same improvements, and who 
will secure them within the next few years because their efforts 
are rightly directed. 

I. READING AND LITERATURE 

Excepting only the personal association, reading is certainly 
the most important educational exercise in our public schools. 
We are thinking here, in this discussion, not so much of training 
in the art of reading itself as of the humanistic and other training 
that results from the use of the art of reading. We wish in no 
degree to minimize the importance of training in the art itself, 
since this is a primordial prerequisite to the use of the art of 
reading for education on all of its later and higher levels. We 
wish to give due emphasis to both reading for the sake of the 
mastery of the art, and reading for the sake of education, intel- 
lectual, social, moral, occupational, political, humanitarian. 

It happens, however, that there has been a rather unbal- 
anced emphasis in the field. We have given large attention to 
the elaboration of methods of teaching the simple art of reading. 
We have placed insufficient emphasis and have given insufficient 
time and thought to the use of reading for the purpose of develop- 
ing and expanding the personality in all the desirable ways in 
which reading may be made to serve as a means. We have not 
over emphasized the mechanics of reading; we have underem- 
phasized the educational results that might accrue from a well- 
studied use of available reading. We have not elaborated our 
methods of teaching the mechanics of reading too greatly ; but 
in elaborating them in partial isolation from the training needed 
for later and higher purposes the methods have tended to be 
artificial and beyond the primary grades relatively inefficient 
even for the purpose of teaching the mechanics of reading. 



INSTRUCTION IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS 157 

Neither purpose is well taken care of unless a proper emphasis 
is given to the other; and unless both are developed in con- 
junction. 

This general criticism of a situation prevalent throughout 
the cities of the country is mentioned because it represents the 
situation in Grand Rapids as well. The writer is glad to state, 
however, that after having examined into the reading situation 
in quite a number of cities in connection with the work of various 
school surveys, he has yet met with no city that is so far along 
the road toward an efficient and balanced program of training in 
and through reading as the city of Grand Rapids. As we point 
to further possibilities of progress it is done with the conscious- 
ness that already great progress in the direction of our recom- 
mendations has been made; and that the leaders of progress in 
the city are already fully conscious of the things that ought to be 
done ; and that the things are already being done about as rapidly 
as conditions will permit. 

The Primary Reading 

The efforts of the primary grades must necessarily be de- 
voted largely to mastery of the art of reading. The city has 
adopted and in general is efficiently using a good standardized 
system of teaching the little people how to read during the first 
few weeks of their presence in the first primary grade. That the 
system employed is on the whole a good one is proven by the 
fact that the children do learn to read within a comparatively 
short time. The system in itself is, however, rather mechanical 
and lends itself to abuse on the part of teachers who lack initia- 
tive and resourcefulness in the use of materials outside of those 
presented by the "systern". 

At this stage of the learning a large amount of mechanical 
exercises is indispensable. The teacher's problem is to make 
them as varied and interesting as possible ; and to keep the drill, 
even though large, incidental to the live interests in the 
stories themselves that are told and read. Even in this early 
stage of reading, it is the thought, the story, that needs to be the 
primary thing in the consciousness of the children with the 
language, the vocabulary, the word-recognition, etc., but modes 
of expressing the story which occupies the center of conscious- 
ness. 

The mechanical basic system now used in the introductory 
work is distinctly lacking within itself in the story element. A 
good teacher can develop much interest through the learning and 
the repetition in various ways of the little basic rhymes, and can 
keep the interest thus developed warm long enough to cover the 



158 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

mechanical and relatively meaningless practice exercises. The 
g-ood teacher, however, finds it necessary also to supplement with 
stories and with the reading prompted by the story interest. 
While both stories and the little jingles now used may both be 
employed as bases for practice exercises, the story is generally 
better for the purpose. 

In conferences with teachers the desire was frequently ex 
pressed for a basic reading system that was less mechanical 
than the present one, and which employed the story element in 
larger measure. These teachers and principals have already 
discerned the need. Taking the work as a whole through the 
city, it seems clear that the story element should be larger so as 
better to serve as a basis for the necessarily rather voluminous 
and varied mechanical drill. The reading should not grow out of 
this drill as is too often the case ; but the drill should grow out 
of the reading. A composite method using elements of the one 
used at present, and using elements of other methods, based in 
the beginning upon the reading furnished by books from two or 
three reading series, should probably be devised, by way of 
taking the next step in the natural evolution of methods within 
the city. 

After the introductory work is covered, the best work in the 
city that was met with represents a superior type of work. In 
the best schools one finds the children covering during the first 
year, six, eight, or ten primers and first readers of varied types 
and subject-matter. Certain cases, however, were found where 
tlie class is covering during this entire year only three or four 
readers and primers. This is altogether insufficient. In such 
case the class has been too long in getting under way; and 
where work is slow, mechanical, and impoverished in the early 
months of the year, the condition of affairs is likely to continue 
to the end. 

The city has been reasonably generous in supplying needed 
reading material in sets large enough for class use. There is an 
average of about ten sets of supplementary books for each first 
grade through the city. These have been chosen, however, in a 
great variety of ways. The assortment at certain buildings, 
therefore, is very much better than that to be found at other 
buildings. Certain of the buildings are not now using all of the 
material with which they are supplied. Other buildings are 
using about all that they have, and could use more if it were 
available. 

One teacher says : ''Every Friday afternoon a different 
child is chosen to read a story to the room, the child having had 
opportunity for a previous reading and study of the story." 
Where rooms are generously supplied with a great variety of 



INSTRUCTION IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS 159 

single library copies of books adapted to this grade, the method 
is an excellent one and serves various purposes. The child who 
must choose his own story will often read through a large quan- 
tity of material by way of finding the story that he wants to read 
to the class. This in itself is excellent, and in the oral reading 
he has a real audience, and his primary effort is to make them 
understand the story. The plan is thus good for both prepara- 
tory and oral reading. While doubtless now used in many schools 
of the city, it is one that can be recommended for all and for 
more frequent use than merely once a week. 

The introductory work of mastering the simple mechanics 
of reading covers the first two or three years. The system be- 
gun in the first grade should probably be continued in an ex- 
panded fashion through the second. P'or this reason the super- 
visor of the first-grade work should usually also supervise that 
of the second grade. 

One second grade visited has read during the year 
seventeen sets of books already, with time enough to read three 
more sets before the end of the year, making twenty in all. 
This represents what is possible in most schools, and what is 
desirable in all. In another second-grade class in a neighboring 
district with not dissimilar population, the corresponding second- 
grade class has read less than five books. This latter type of 
work represents a paucity of intellectual nourishment, and at the 
same time a deficiency in that reading practice on the side of its 
mechanics which is necessary for speed, facility, good under- 
standing, and good habits of reading. Since there is an average 
of ten or twelve sets of supplementary readers for the second 
grade in the buildings of the city, the facilities are already sup- 
plied for a larger amount of reading in the second grade than 
seems now to be the average of practice. Both averages need 
to be raised. While there is much reading material on hand, 
there should be even more; and while much is now being- 
covered in the school of average accomplishment, much more 
could and should be covered. 

The Reading of Intermediate and Grammer Grades 

The work in reading is laid out in the course of study in such 
a way as to emphasize an intensive study of selections presented 
in the reading textbooks. The textbook series used from the 
fifth grade on to the end of the eighth is of such a degree of 
difficulty, and the mode of treatment of the various lessons is so 
elaborated and systematized within the text itself that one finds 
here another influence tending to emphasize the intensive study 
of the difficult and often inappropriate selections. As a result it 



160 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

is quite clear that the consciously directed reading work of the 
grammar grades, — this leaves out of the account for the moment 
the Hbrary reading, — is distinctly inferior for the purposes to 
that of the primary grades. One finds second and third-year 
classes reading a dozen supplementary sets of books. One does 
not, however, find the eighth-grade classes reading a dozen sets 
of supplementary reading books. They ought to read more, not 
less. If it is objected that the older classes have many things to 
do because they are carrying many subjects, while the earlier 
classes have fewer things to do, we must say that the range of 
things to which attention is given is really much the same in the 
lower and in the upper grades. Simply, the matters are taken 
care of in fewer classes in the earlier grades, and are differenti- 
ated into more specialized subjects in the later grades. Second 
and third-grade reading, for example, covers matters that are 
geographical, historical, scientific, literary, etc. In the later 
grades the readings are classified and assigned to different sub- 
jects. In our consideration of the reading practice, however, we 
have regard here for that reading that is done in connection with 
the geography work, history work, etc., as well as that done in 
the literature classes. In the upper grades there is more text- 
book study and less of the experiential education that comes 
through a wide, varied, and reasonably voluminous reading ex- 
perience. The later grades need to widen this reading experi- 
ence beyond that of the lower grades, not to narrow it. 

Whereas the first three grades have available an average 
of about ten sets of supplementary reading material, the seventh 
grade has only about seven sets, and the eighth grade only about 
six. Instead of the quantity of reading material available for the 
later grades growing more meagre, it should grow in quite the 
reverse direction. There should be more to read and on a greater 
variety of subjects, not less. While it can be said that the com- 
munity has been much more generous with its schools in the 
matter of supplementary reading all along the line than is the 
average of cities in general, yet it must be said that the movement 
which has for a number of years been clearly under way is yet 
far from having reached its final stage of adequate development. 
Much yet needs to be done by way of supplying the later grades 
with needed reading materials. This reading needs to be of such 
a varied character that the whole world in its multitudinous 
aspects can be made to pass in review before the inner vision of 
the rising generation as the chief education which they will get 
from books. 

The varied purposes of the reading experience in the later 
grades have as yet been insufficiently defined by school authori- 
ties and teachers. Reading as a mode of formative experience 



INSTRUCTION IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS 161 

shaping the various aspects of the personaUty is not yet suffi- 
ciently valued within the city, it would appear. An unduly 
large amount of attention and effort is given to the storing up of 
items of information within the intellects of the children. There 
is yet an insufficient faith in the power of wide reading experi- 
ence to develop equally valuable types of intellectual products 
along with the various other desirable results of such reading. 
As in most cities, there is yet a larger faith in learning things as 
a mode of education rather than experience as a mode of educa- 
tion. As the city develops the experiential development type 
of training, it will develop fullness and width and vitality of 
reading experience as one of the most important forms. 

One grammar-grade teacher said of the text material that 
is now assigned for the work : "It is too heavy. It is grown-up 
literature, not literature for children. Except for certain selec- 
tions, it is not interesting to the children." It is very evident that 
this is the cas^e. Even when the theme of the story presented is 
one that is appropriate to the maturity and interests of the 
children of the grade, it is too often presented simply as a con- 
densed series of fragments of the original story and in a style 
adapted to adults and not to children. Very many of the selec- 
tions too have been included in the list for purposes that are 
altogether legitimate, but apparently through a mistaken judg- 
ment as to the kind of materials that are appropriate to the 
maturity of the grade. 

Certain of the most capable eighth-grade teachers met with 
are using in the eighth grade stories of Greek mythology, Greek 
hero tales, folk tales, certain of the more mature fables and 
fairy tales, historical stories, fiction dealing with the Middle 
Ages, fiction dealing with American history, etc. When inquiry 
was made as to how the work was carried on, generally the 
teachers had to say that they lacked sets of books for the_ work, 
and were depending on the few copies supplied by the library. 
For reading Lamb's Tales from Shakespeare, there was no set 
of books available. For the class reading of vital modern dramas 
so as to educate the population to a level of appreciation higher 
than that now represented by the ubiquitous "movies," no mod- 
ern dramatic literature is made available for the work. Pupils 
that attend the "movies" with great frequency and appreciation 
sit sufficiently listless and passive in the reading classes. It is 
true it will cost the city something to supply the children in the 
schools with that wealth of interesting, vital reading experience 
which they need for their full humanistic development. It will 
not, however, cost the people of the city anything like what they 
are now perfectly willing to pay for the support of interesting 



l62 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

but educationally relatively valueless motion-pictures as supplied 
by our commercial agencies. 

One of the buildings in the city was observed to be making 
a studied attempt to systematize the reading so as to make it 
cover a wide range of desirable experience. A series of nature 
study readings has been arranged, one book for each grade be- 
ginning with the second. Parallel with this there is a series of 
historical readings definitely laid out for each grade, and a third 
series of geographical readings. The plan seems not to have 
been systematically worked out beyond this point. It should, 
however, be extended to cover biography, inventions, industry 
and commerce, travels, hygiene and sanitation, poetry, fiction, 
drama, etc. Reading opportunities in most of these fields are 
lacking in most of the schools, — except. as supplied by the public 
library in single copies, and which therefore do not lend them- 
selves to class use. 

Methods 

Where reading selections are unsuitable because of the ma- 
turity of the sentiments expressed, or because of their not having 
been led up to and prepared for by a sufficient wealth of previous 
reading experience, teaching methods are often suft'iciently in- 
efficient for training in good reading habits, appreciation, and 
understanding. So many words, allusions, figures of speech, etc., 
have to be explained, and the mature adult sentiments have to be 
so fully discussed, that sometimes but little real reading is ac- 
complished. Now it is a well-known law of education that it is 
only practice in doing a thing that trains one for doing that 
thing. And what is more, it is only practice in doing the thing 
in the way that it is to be used that will train one to do the thing 
in the way that is desired. Explaining, talking, dictionary work, 
using words in sentences, etc., are not reading. Each of them 
has a proper place, though when the work is well done it is 
minor and incidental. When they are so much emphasized as to 
consume the major portion or even a large portion of time and 
effort, one finds a clear symptom of lack of previous preparation 
for this work on the part of the class during previous years, or 
an improper, selection for the present work of the class, or both. 

The nature of the selections, especially those of the grammar 
grades, has brought about and made necessary the use of such 
undesirable methods at the present time in the schools of the 
city. The way out is a more complete formulation of the pur- 
poses of using reading as a mode of education, and the selection 
of a rnore complete and better graded series of reading materials. 
For either the formulation of the curriculum or the determina- 



INSTRUCTION IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS 163 

tion of methods, one must first know what one is after. The 
school organization has not yet adequately defined its purposes. 

Silent Reading 

The importance of silent reading is referred to in the pub- 
lished manual only in connection with the reading work of the 
fourth grade. The statement is general, and probably is intended 
to apply to all of the later grades. The manual, however, does 
not sufficiently emphasize it, and it consequently receives rather 
insufficient emphasis in the schools in general. It is a matter, 
however, that is taken care of automatically as the volume of 
reading experience is increased. While the class work at present 
is given mainly to oral reading and discussion, yet if the reading 
program is widened in ways herein recommended the greater 
portion of it must of necessity be silent reading experience. 

Almost all of the reading of adults is for thought, for infor- 
matjon, and for imaginative experience. For these purposes 
silent reading is more effective and more expeditious. Except 
for a few types of people who need it as a part of their vocational 
preparation, oral reading is so little used as not to warrant spe- 
cial training after the primary grades are passed. 

Stories Read or Told to Pupils 

Throughout the printed course of study large emphasis is 
placed upon the telling or reading of stories and poems to the 
pupils by the teacher. The first-grade outline specifies six kinds 
of material, and the eighth-grade outline seven kinds of material 
to be given in this oral way. 

It would seem to be better for most purposes, at least, for 
the children to read the stories, poems, etc., themselves. In 
general, teacher-labor is expensive, and must be used for a large 
variety of purposes for which books cannot serve as substitutes. 
When a bookxan be made to serve as a substitute, it would ap- 
pear that the method would be much more economical and for 
most purposes just as serviceable. 

The writer is able to find but one major justifiable reason 
for a teacher's reading the stories and poems to the pupils. One's 
pronunciation, mode of utterance, and auditory imagery are 
shaped in large part by what one hears. To listen to the reading 
of a teacher of finished pronunciation, enunciation, etc., is an 
essential element in training pupils in the pronunciation of words 
that have not yet become portions of their active speaking voca- 
bulary. To listen to a good voice is part of the necessary train- 
ing in the right control of the voice. A teacher should therefore 



164 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

read to the pupils. It is more important for their education than 
that they do the oral reading themselves. 

The amount of such oral reading by the teacher should be 
adjusted to the needs of the pupils. In regions where the 
children are of immigrant stock and unused to hearing properly 
spoken English in their homes or on the playgrounds, there 
probably should be a large amount of such reading, always 
dealing with stories or informational articles that strongly ap- 
peal to the children. In schools where the children come from 
native American homes, it is probable that not a great deal of 
such reading is needed. In general, the ordinary classroom 
speech of the teacher will be sufficient for the purpose. 

It cannot be urged that the imaginative experience accom- 
panying the reading is more vivid or more effective v/hen one is 
listening to the oral reading of another than it is when one is 
reading the matter silently. This may occasionally be so in the 
case of selections that are oratorical, impassioned, or for em- 
phasizing the rhythmic and lyric aspects of poetry; but with 
most types of reading it is desirable that pupils should be trained 
through practice to get the full experience through silent reading 
without having to depend upon others for intensification of his 
reading experience. To be able to do much reading wholly inde- 
pendent of others is one of the ends of the training. 

The Grand Rapids Public Library 

Among the things needed for the effective conduct of public 
education, after teachers and buildings have been supplied, the 
most important doubtless is a supply of reading materials ade- 
quate in quantity and suitable in quality for the children of the 
different levels of advancement. In connection with the topics 
of reading, history, geography, science, etc., we have discussed 
the textbooks and supplementary reading sets. A no less im- 
portant factor, however, where the work is adequately developed 
is the educational co-operative work of the city public library. 
In this respect Grand Rapids is fortunate in a highly unusual 
degree. 

To begin with, the form of organization is excellent for the 
purpose. The library is governed by a board that is sufficiently 
separate from those who control the school affairs proper, and 
yet it is sufficiently linked to the educational organization to 
secure thoroughgoing co-operation. Of the six members of the 
Board of Library Commissioners, five are elected by the citi- 
zens at large, including women, on a non-partisan ballot, and 
the sixth member is the superintendent of the public schools, 
ex officio. At the present moment the superintendent of the 



INSTRUCTION IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS 165 

city schools is the president of the library board. The title to 
all property of the library rests with the Board of Education. 

For more than twenty years the city library has been plac- 
ing deposit and branch libraries in all of the school buildings in 
the city. The legally connected and closely co-operating boards 
of education and of library are thus by means of a single service 
systematically taking care of the reading opportunities of all of 
the people of the city, both juvenile and adult. In the purchase 
and management of books the board of education takes care 
primarily of the desk books, the supplementary books, and the 
classroom reference books, — all of those books that are kept 
permanently within the classrooms for the systematic class- 
room work. On the other hand, the board of library commis- 
sioners supplies the general all-round reading needed by both 
children and adults, and also the periodical literature which is 
supplied in unusually generous amounts, both in the central 
library as well as in all of the branch libraries in the school 
buildings of the city. 

A reading room of generous size is now supplied for the 
branch libraries by the board of education in about one-third of 
the regular school buildings of the city ; and such a room is being 
provided in each of the new buildings. The school board sup- 
plies heat, light, and janitor service, while the library board sup- 
plies the books, periodicals, card catalogues, and the librarians, 
and conducts the weekly story hour during the season, the course 
of free lectures for children and adults through the year, and the 
systematic instruction of the, children in the uses of the library. 
These branch library rooms are so arranged that they can serve 
as reading rooms for the children during the school day and as 
reading and library rooms for the adult community during the 
day, the evening, Saturdays, and all school vacations, except 
certain legal holidays, both afternoon and evening. Separate 
entrances and separate heating facilities are provided for the 
community uses while the schools are not in session. 

The classrooms of the regular size used for branch library 
purposes in the beginning having been found to be too small, 
the boards are making provision in all new buildings for much 
more commodious quarters. This is demanded not only by the 
needs of facilities for the reading activities, but also for the in- 
creasing development of the library lecture courses and the ever- 
increasing attendance. 

The branch libraries are equipped with from 1500 to 3500 
volumes, of which about half are for children and the rest for 
adults. Each is supplied with twenty-five to thirty current 
periodicals in the English language and special periodical liter- 



166 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

ature in foreign languages, adapted to the population of the dis- 
trict. The use of the books intended for children and adults is 
carefully studied so as to keep only "live" books upon the 
shelves, and to return any unused books to the central general 
library. 

In most of the schools in which branch libraries have not 
been opened, there are what are termed deposit libraries man- 
aged by the principal and the teachers, except in the case of five 
of the larger schools such as Madison, Diamond, Straight, Widdi- 
comb, and Jefferson, where an assistant from the library takes 
care of this work one day each week. The size of these deposit 
libraries is largely determined by the demands of the pupils. 
They consist of books that are currently used, unused books 
being returned. The size of the library is thus taken care of 
automatically. Its expansion and diminution constitute a baro- 
meter of reading conditions within the building. 

In addition to the relative permanent library sets referred to, 
the travelling library sets constitute an important feature of the 
work. When a teacher is treating, for example, a topic in history 
like the American Revolution, she sends in to the central library 
for a travelling library box of books, ranging according to the 
topic from twenty-five to two-hundred books, for collateral refer-, 
ence. This special collection may be kept at a building for four 
or six weeks, and the books are issued by the teacher to the 
pupils in informal ways — that is to say, they are not charged in 
the usual manner upon the regular cards. Those who have not 
tried the plan in the generous way in which it is carried out in 
Grand Rapids are inclined to venture the guess that this plan 
would result in the loss of many books. The books of both 
travelling and deposit libraries are kept in the buildings and 
classrooms on open shelves, the pupils having access to them 
at any and all times while the building is open, whether the 
teacher is present or not. The library makes the statement, 
however, that according to the last official report the entire 
number of books lost in connection with all of the library work 
in the schools for the entire year was only fifty-eight copies. A 
number of these copies will probably find their way back into 
the library in time. It a])pears that where books are made so 
easily accessible and so abundantly accessible as that provided 
by the library service in the city, there is no motive for a child 
trying to keep books that have not been charged, and thus trying 
to build up a little unneeded private library at the expense of the 
big ever-ready public library. 

The library employs a number of ways of encouraging the 
children to use the books so variously supplied. There is the 
weekly story-hour from October to March at the central library 



INSTRUCTION IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS 167 

and at each of the branch Hbraries. Monthly bulletins are is- 
sued calling attention to all new books and to classified lists of 
books of various kinds. Eight or ten public lectures are pro- 
vided each year for adults and children at each of the various 
school branches. Printed slips are prepared announcing each 
of these public lectures well in advance throughout the district. 
On each printed slip there is given a list of ten to fifteen books 
and periodical articles relating to the topics treated in the lec- 
ture, which can be read preparatory to the lecture, or which 
may be read after the lecture has stimulated interest in the sub- 
ject. These lectures are attended in continually increasing meas- 
ure by both children and adults, with a consequent continual in- 
crease in the value of the lectures for stimulating reading on the 
part of juvenile and adult population. 

A further method of stimulating reading is the organization 
of reading clubs in the schools. In one of the buildings of the 
city last year an average of nineteen books per child was read 
by the pupils of the building, the children of all grades including 
the kindergarten being counted in taking this average. Many 
children read a book a week, the habit formed during the school 
year tending to persist during holiday and vacation seasons. 
There are some children who read two books a week through 
the year. Their library cards permit them to take out at one 
time one of fiction and one of non-fiction. Two a week is not 
excessive for rapid readers when the content is of this balanced 
type. Since children should be early trained for rapid silent 
reading, this constitutes one of the most effective possible de- 
vices for providing the training. It is rapid voluminous reading 
of this type that should take care of the major portion of the 
training- in the mechanics of reading. 

The books for the schools are chosen by specially trained 
librarians familiar with children's reading. Recently published 
and therefore untried books are tried out in the children's de- 
partment of the general library before they are sent out to the 
various school, branch, and deposit libraries. After being sent 
out, reports are received from principals and teachers as to their 
suitability for the purpose. Principals and teachers are also 
asked to send into the library any suggestions as to what they 
want. This method of securing new books combines co-opera- 
tively the labors of both the library and the school people, and 
draws upon the best information and experience of each. 

The library also secures information as to the children's 
reading in its "Annual Conference on Children's Reading." Both 
teachers and parents are represented upon the program, the dis- 
cussion touching upon the reading tastes of children, reading 



168 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

needs, suitable books, amounts of different types of reading cov- 
ered by different classes of children, relative values of different 
types of reading, and the like. To make the discussions con- 
crete and practical, the Conference limits itself each year to a 
specific portion of the reading field. For example, the Confer- 
ence this year discussed "Love Stories for Children" and last 
year, "War Stories for Children". This type of conference 
brings together all of the people interested in promoting and 
improving children's reading, and prevents any group from work- 
ing in isolation from the others. 

After school days are over the most important continuing 
educational influence, — for we are learning that education must 
be a life-long affair — is the reading habit in those who have been 
so fortunate as to acquire it. Education through library reading, 
therefore, when full and effective in ways evident in frequent 
cases in this city, is a type of education that does not therefore 
lapse when school days are over. 

We have but one recommendation to make : Let the work 
grow and expand and continue along the lines already provided 
for by the Board of Education, the Board of Library Commis- 
sioners, and the professional people within both organizations. 

II. HISTORY 

The average number of hours given to classwork in history 
as reported by principals in their reports on distribution of class 
time (not study time) is shown in the following table. Beside it 
is placed the average practice in fifty cities as reported by Pro- 
fessor Holmes in the Fourteenth Yearbook of the National So- 
ciety for the Study of Education, 1915. 

TABLE XXX 
Hours per Year Given to History. 

Grade Grand Rapids Fifty Cities 

I 6 27 

II , 4 31 

III 4 35 

IV _ 7 57 

V 11 i>l 

VI 10 71 

VII 69 91 

VIII 120 117 

Total 231 496 

The figures show that history does not receive serious con- 
sideration except during the last year and a half of the ele- 
mentary-school course. The published course of study recom- 
mends only thirty minutes per week during the first half of the 
seventh grade. In most schools, however, even upon this level. 



INSTRUCTION IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS 169 

it finds no place whatever upon the program. Naturally, when 
fhe subject receives such scant consideration in the first half of 
the seventh grade, it receives no fuller consideration in the 
grades preceding the seventh. 

Since about thirty per cent of the growing generation in 
Grand Rapids drops out of school before they have taken the 
work of the last year and a half, it follows that this large per 
cent of the population of the city does not have that fundamental 
training in American citizenship that comes from a study of 
iVmerican history. Here we find one of several reasons why 
history should be given larger attention earlier in the elementary- 
school course. 

From a careful reading of the teachers' manual in history 
and from observation of the work in the elementary schools, it 
appears that the city has not adequtely defined its purposes in the 
teaching of history; that history is insufficiently valued as a 
training for citizenship ; that the methods of using history as a 
means of training in citizenship have received insufficient con- 
sideration ; and that the historical materials to be covered by the 
pupils, as history is used in training for citizenship, have not 
always been chosen looking to that important end. 

It is expected that the course of study shall be followed dur- 
ing the last year and a half, — though reasonable latitude is al- 
lowed to teachers in the modification of the outlines. The 
printed course, however, presents an outline for all of the 
grades, beginning with the first. Up to the middle of the 
seventh grade, however, the course is optional. They may sub- 
stitute a totally different outline or omit the subject altogether. 
Since the outline of work up to the middle of the seventh grade 
is not to be taken seriously, naturally there was no serious re- 
sponsibility resting upon the course of study committee when it 
drew up the outlines. Without such motivating responsibility, 
good courses of study are not usually drawn up. It is the judg- 
ment of the writer that such occurred in this instance. 

The committee says in its introduction: "The work in the 
earlier grades cannot be called history, sociology would be the 
better word." It is the judgment of the writer that biography, 
personal incident, adventure, and history, all of a concrete, vivid, 
stirring, active sort, should precede those generalizations con- 
cerning peoples and nations that we may call elementary-school 
sociology. The numerous sociological questions which are pre- 
sented in the outlines for the early grades represent problems of 
great complexity and difficulty, and should be reserved for later 
treatment. They have little place in the primary grades of the 
public schools. Only some of the simpler matters should be at- 



170 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

tempted in the intermediate grades, and here it should be noth- 
ing more than generalizations from concrete matters treated in 
this history. Sociological conditions in their simpler, rougher 
outlines can be seen by the children as the background to the 
actions of men that take place in the foreground of the stage. 
For example, after one has read concrete stories of early explor- 
ations in America, including the exploration of the Mississippi 
and of the Rocky Mountain region ; after one has read stirring 
stories of Indian life and adventure; after having read the inci- 
dents of Indian wars and the Indian fringe of other v^ars, etc., it 
is then easily possible for children to generalize as to the social 
conditions and relationships of the primitive American tribes. 
Children can then discuss housing, government, weapons, meth- 
ods of warfare, domestic animals, the protective instincts, in- 
fluences bringing people together and uniting them into tribes, 
primitive beginnings of agricultural implements and methods, 
and the various other sociological matters relative to the Indians. 
But these sociological generalizations should come late. They 
do not belong in second and third grades as provided in the out- 
lines. 

The second-grade outline indicates some recognition of this 
principle, though apparently inadequate recognition. After 
recommending a rather abstract sociological treatment of "shep- 
herd life," in one of the later sections they recommend the in- 
troduction of the stories of Abraham, Joseph, David, and other 
shepherds that may suggest themselves. Except for the fact 
that Joseph was not a shepherd and David gave but little time 
to it, the recommendation refers to the sort of thing to which 
practically all of the history work of the second grade should be 
devoted, — that is to say, to simple interesting biographical 
stories. Out of a series of concrete stories of shepherds, children 
can, when the right time comes, generalize as to the various as- 
pects and relationships of shepherd life. To fill the children's 
minds full of concrete imagery and stories is perhaps the method 
of laying the proper foundation for the later more generalized 
stages of understanding. 

The course of study attempts to organize various types of 
study, and to give different ones at different points in the course. 
The second-grade work is to be given to shepherd life ; the third- 
grade, to agricultural life ; the first half of the fourth-grade, to 
the history of Grand Rapids ; the second half, to a brief review 
of general history given biographically, and treating of Rome, 
Greece, Persia, the age of chivalry, early England, and early 
Norway. The first half of the fifth grade is devoted to the bio- 
graphies of prominent Americans ; the second half, to biographi- 
cal studies of European, African, and South American history 



INSTRUCTION IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS l7l 

during the modern period. The first half of the sixth grade is 
given to discoverers and explorers of North America, and to in- 
ventors ; the second half, to a general survey of the heroes of the 
ancient world, Greece, Rome, China, Persia. 

This series of general topics seems to represent the zig-zag 
results of several influences that have been at work. The shep- 
herd life and agricultural life of second and third grades appear 
to have grown out of an old recapitulatory theory of education. 
The history of Grand Rapids in the fourth grade appears to 
result from the influence of certain local patriotic and historical 
societies. A part of the work of the second half of the fourth 
grade and of that of fifth and sixth grades is for the conscious 
purpose of preparation for the later study of American history. 
Another portion of it seems to be due to a feeling on the part of 
the committee that for general cultural purposes one should have 
a wide backward view over general world history. 

It is the judgment of the writer that history rightly taught 
is a matter of great practical value. But actually to be of large 
value, however, the materials must be chosen with an eye single 
to the practical values that are to accrue from historical reading 
and experience. The purposes must be held definitely in mind. 
Except as the history curriculum looks to results that are needed 
in the community life of today, there should not be any history 
curriculum. As a matter of fact, however, we are in our country 
confronted with a host of social, economic, industrial, religious, 
political, and other problerns of the greatest complexity. Their 
solution in our democracy depends upon an adequate under- 
standing of them on the part of the entire citizenry. The histori- 
cal approach to each of these various problems is the most illu- 
minating approach. It shows the problems in their simple early 
forms. It shows the nature of the influences that have been at 
work by way of bringing about the present complicated relation- 
ships. History, therefore, is one of the best possible modes of 
analysis of the factors that enter into present-day problems. It 
gives width of vision in the treatment of these problems; it 
teaches tolerance and patience in the Avorking out of the prob- 
lems. 

Materials should therefore be chosen chiefly for the purpose 
of revealing the nature of present-day social conditions and prob- 
lems. Our problems are world-wide in their ramifications and 
some of them reach back to a point even before the dawn of 
written history. Many of them reach back into the ancient 
period. For illuminating our present-day problems, therefore, 
there is reason for teaching world-history beginning with an- 
cient times. The early work in primary and in intermediate 



172 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

grades will deal mainly with biography, adventure, migrations, 
wars, myths, legends, etc. It will not narrow itself to shepherd 
life in the second grade, and agricultural life in the third grade, 
and Grand Rapids life in the fourth grade; but in these early 
grades the whole world will be its field. The later intermediate 
grades will read more connected stories of nations, ancient and 
modern, treated mainly from the biographical point of view and 
dealing with the larger simpler activities of the nations, — those 
simple fundamental matters which children of the intermediate 
grades can understand, such as wars, migrations, struggles of 
major groups within the nation, changes in major outlines of 
government, etc. Everything at this level will necessarily be 
largely personal and the interests will grow out largely of the 
basic instincts of conflict and danger. By the end of the sixth 
grade, children through such reading should have a considerable 
familiarity with the outlines of the chronological, historical 
movements in the major historical nations, ancient and modern, 
the basic chronological outline of American history among the 
rest. 

In making this recommendation in other places the writer 
has found the objection to arise that the work above recom- 
mended simply cannot be done. It is usually said that a familiar-, 
ity wth the stories of so many nations is more properly a problem 
for the level of the college rather than for that of the intermediate 
grades of the elementary school. Let one, however, look over the 
supplementary readings of a biographical, legendary, and his- 
torical character designed for the use of, and actually used in 
third, fourth, fifth, and sixth grades in American cities at the 
present time, and let him note the quantity of such reading that 
is actually covered by the children in cities where they are 
generously supplied with such reading materials, — let one go 
far enough into this problem that he may forget his traditional 
preconceptions, — and he will discover that the program sug- 
gested is a practicable one. Naturally it is to be done in ways 
and with the use of materials that harmonize with the nature of 
childhood of those ages to be found within the intermediate 
grades. Children of this age are an active, restless, human 
species. When they are given the opportunity through appro- 
priate appealing reading to participate imaginatively in the his- 
torical experiences of men and of people, they are just as active 
and just as restless and will enter into the imaginative experience 
with the same zeal. Things of course must be rapid. The 
panorama must be always changing. The pupil must not have to 
stop too much to learn things, but must simply live in the cur- 
rent of the action. In proportion as this experience is vivid and 
vital, it will shape his mentality and he will remember the out- 



INSTRUCTION IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS 173 

lines of it. He will not often stop to learn things as he reads, 
and yet the learning that is the outcome of this type of experi- 
ence will be the best and surest type of learning. The learning 
that comes from experience abides ; while the learning that 
comes from memorizing, lacking vitality, fades and disappears. 

In the introduction to the history course of study the com- 
mittee has supplied three pages of bibliography of historical 
readings. Very many of the books are of the types appropriate 
for the work of the intermediate grades. With the excellent 
beginning thus made it ought to be possible for the city to as- 
semble a still more complete list of books appropriate for each 
of these grades, and from these grade lists select historical 
readings of the character recommended. This is not reading to 
be done in addition to that recommended in our discussion of 
reading. This should be a portion of the general reading pro- 
gram. It is a matter of no consequence whether the reading is 
placed in the reading class or the history class. 

Many good reason's can be given for such a familiarity with 
the history of Grand Rapids as intended by the outline of work 
set down for the first half of the fourth grade. It should, how- 
ever, at this level, be biographical, anecdotal, personal, and con- 
crete, so far as possible, with the general outlines of the eco- 
nomic and other growth of the city chiefly in the background. 
It should be a thing to be read and appreciated ; but not a thing 
to be learned, recited upon, and examined upon. At a later 
period when one is considering the civic problems of the city, as 
one discusses the fire department of the present, it will be proper- 
ly appreciated and understood if the history of the devleopment 
of the present fire department from the beginning is introduced 
rather fully. In the same way one will best introduce the detailed 
history of the school system, the board of health, the water sup- 
ply system, the sewer system, the police department, the build- 
ing situation, the industries of the city, etc. One can then best 
introduce the city's history in connection with each of these 
various matters. These studies are of a type for grades subse- 
quent to the intermediate. 

The history outline provides that thirty minutes per week 
during the first half of the seventh grade should be devoted to a 
discussion of city and county civic problems. While these mat- 
ters should be taught, it must be first noticed that this is not 
history, and that no history is recommended for the first half of 
the seventh grade. 

Certain civic problems should be taken up for study at this 
time, but it would be better to take up a few problems on the 
level of the comprehension of the students rather than to try to 



174 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

follow so complete and elaborate an outline, all of the work 
being done relatively superficially, — in the rare instances in 
which it is attempted. To handle a few topics seriously and 
thoroughly would be much better than scattering over the whole 
of so long a list at this period. Civic topics not treated during 
the first half of the seventh grade should be treated during the 
second half of this grade, and during the eighth grade. The v/ork 
is important enough to justify its being distributed over a long- 
period of time. It is also sufficiently important to warrant its 
being looked upon as a subject in itself, and therefore something 
more than a subject that is taken care of provided there is time 
enough left after the history work is done. 

History in the Grammar Grades 

A spiral method is employed in the teaching of history dur- 
ing the last year and a half of the elementary course. Both the 
colonial period and the national period are covered twice. In the 
first of the three semesters given to this subject, the colonial 
period is covered down to the end of the Revolutionary War. 
In the next semester, the class goes back to European beginnings 
of American history and brings the whole subject down to the 
present, but looking primarily to migrations and expansions of 
the population. Thus it covers exploration and settlement, not 
only of the colonial region but also of the Mississippi valley, the 
western great plains, the mountain region, the Pacific Coast 
region, and our insular possessions. Naturally it deals with the 
various conflicts and difficulties met with in this growth and 
expansion of nationality. In the third and last semester the 
national period, beginning* with Washington's administration, is 
covered. The outline omits the period from 1783-1789 during 
which the country was governed under the Articles of Confeder- 
ation. 

The first and third semesters of this course represent in the 
main the usual traditional plan of organization. The half year 
devoted to the topics of westward migration and national ex- 
pansion is run in between the two halves of a usual course. 

The plan is unusual. Much can be said in favor of it. 
More could be said in favor of it if textbooks suitable for this 
plan of course were available. The first half of the second 
semester's work duplicates in considerable degree the work of 
the first semester; and, on the other hand, the third semester's 
work duplicates in considerable degree the second portion of the 
middle semester. But such repetition is an essential element of 
any spiral plan of organization. It is intentional and serves as 
review. Two impressions a half-year apart are better than one. 



INSTRUCTION IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS 175 

As the course is drawn up, the second treatment, however, is 
from a different angle. There is a somewhat different immedi- 
ate purpose in view ; and in large part different materials are 
used. 

Were proper textbook materials available for the pupils 
the plan as draAvn up could be commended as being distinctly 
superior to the usual traditional plan of treatment. The chief 
textbook difficulty is in connection with the middle semester. 
For this treatment advised is presented in part in a book that 
is used in the graduate school of our university.; and in part it 
is to be found by selecting- passages here and there through the 
five regular texts of the open list. It is generally believed, how- 
ever, that at this stage of maturity the chronological treatment 
of history should be presented in a connected account, which can 
be read through in a straightforward manner from the beginning 
to the end. Even after the students have a good understanding 
of the general chronological sequence of affairs and are taking 
up the study of specific topics, it is felt that the treatment of a 
topic should be organic, sequential, connected, so that the child- 
ren can read the whole of it from beginning to end as one or- 
ganic story. It is not good in the basic teaching of history at this 
period for pupils to be compelled to search through a number of 
books by way of assembling information that bears upon specific 
topics that are furnished in a topical outline. Collateral work 
supplementary to the connected treatment of a basic text is 
valuable and desirable. It is generally thought to be better, 
hqw^ever, to use a text as the basis of organization of all such 
collateral material rather than the bare skeleton outline. For 
children of this age such a skeleton is generally considered to be 
too frail for secure organization. 

In the first and third semesters of the work certain teachers 
have preferred the use of a single textbook as the basis of the 
work, and to use library or desk copies of the other four books on 
the open list, and still others in addition for supplementary col- 
lateral reading. In other cases teachers have preferred the five 
book plan, the different pupils being encouraged to purchase 
different textbooks so that each of the five adopted texts will 
be found in the hands of pupils in the class. The basis of or- 
ganization is the outline given out by the teacher. All the in- 
formation then in all of the books is used by the pupils at the 
recitation time. The result of this latter plan, however, is that 
the basis of organization must be the outline, and students can- 
not read the text in its sequential treatment as laid down in the 
book. Pupils are from the beginning to the end of the year 
skipping about, finding information on the various topics. The 



176 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

former plan is probably the more effective plan of organizing 
the information and study, and at the same time secures the 
pooling of the information from the same and even additional 
books. It appears to be the better method. 

While commending the general organization of the gram- 
mar grade work as it stands, it is the belief of the writer, based 
upon the practice in progressive school systems, that the present 
form of organization of the work is but temporary, and that in 
the next few years great improvements can and will be made. 
This will be accomplished in large part by developing the history 
work of the fourth, fifth, and sixth, and first half of seventh 
grades. An appreciation of the general chronological develop- 
ment of the country in its simpler basic aspects should be rather 
fully developed by the end of the sixth grade. Much that is now 
done subsequent to the middle of the seventh grade should be 
accomplished before this point is reached so that the seventh 
and eighth grades could be given to the connected treatment of 
a considerable variety of topics, the understanding of which is 
demanded by our present problems of citizenship. One of the 
first of these topics that might be taken up for special treatment 
might well be that of "Westward Expansion" which the city has 
already, so far as the outline is concerned, very fully worked 
out. A second simple topic might be the growth and develop- 
ment of transportation and communication systems. The con- 
nected treatment of the history of railroads, waterway transpor- 
tation, roads, postal service, telegraph and telephone, etc., can he 
made simple, concrete, interesting and intelligible. With a back- 
ground of understanding laid in the earlier grades of the general 
chronological development, this topic or this series of topics 
may very well be treated in connected form without reference to 
any other aspects of the national history except as they are re- 
lated to the topics that are being treated. Other topics that 
might then be similarly treated are such as the following: the 
industrial development of the United States, the growth of 
manufacturing, the growth of commerce, the development of 
mining industries, the development of foreign commerce, con- 
servation of our natural resources, pensions, control of the hours 
of labor, immigration, taxation, tariff and free trade, the control 
of public utilities, the control of disease, the water supply of 
cities, city beautification, etc., etc. Some of these topics may 
seem sufficiently fantastic because of our having become more 
or less accustomed to think of a conventional series of topics as 
belonging to the treatment of our American history. As a mat- 
ter of fact the history cannot be justified except as it affords il- 
lumination of our present-day problems of various kinds, and 
particularly those of citizenship. The treatment of a topic is 



INSTRUCTION IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS 177 

lacking in substantiality if the historical background of it is not 
given as a portion of the treatment. Since so large a proportion 
of our pupils do not go to high school, if our citizenship is to be 
prepared, some of the treatment at least must be given during the 
grammar-school grades. 

The program suggested can be worked out and adopted 
only gradually, because it is not possible yet to find satisfactory 
textbooks or other treatment of many of these various civic 
problems. The demands on the part of city systems for such 
reading material is so recent that the supply is not yet forth- 
coming in any adequate degree. For the present any program 
must be drawn up with a consideration at the same time of the 
reading materials that are available, or which can be made avail- 
able. In large degree teachers are textbook-trained. They know 
the subject in its traditional content and form of organization, 
but they are relatively uninformed as to the historical back- 
ground of our various civic problems. They cannot be expected 
to perform the large labor of gathering together information on 
these topics and of presenting matters in part orally and in part 
through outlines of readings from various sources to be covered 
by the pupils. A good body of reading on any topic should be 
made available for both teachers and pupils by the overhead 
management before the work is attempted. 

The method employed in the history work of the grammar 
grades, so far as observed in the dozen visits made to such 
classes, was mainly of the usual question and answer type. The 
task of the pupils was to memorize the facts and then to give 
them out in the recitation in answers to questions. This fact- 
learning and recitation method is coming to be looked upon as 
less effective for the serious purposes of teaching history than the 
experiential method of re-living the reconstructed life of the 
past through the imaginative experience of reading in which the 
treatment is full, concrete, vivid, and interesting. At the present 
time there is too much fact-learning and not enough historical 
experience. This is not to depreciate the worth of facts. It is to 
indicate a method of arriving at a memory of facts that is more 
effective than the direct method of memorization, and which 
secures a variety of other good results at the same time. The 
textbook fact-learning method is an ineffective method, and a 
wasteful method because relatively ineffective. 

The type of work here recommended is not possible in a city 
that adheres to the individual purchase plan for textbooks. Only 
as the textbooks are publicly purchased and held by the school 
will it be possible to carry through any such plan of work. This 
is of course already realized by the community as indicated by 



178 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

a fairly generous supply of that type of text material which has 
been misnamed supplementary reading. It is this type of con- 
crete reading that must really constitute the fundamental text 
material. The historical textbook series must include a large 
number of books, each read fairly rapidly for the sake of histori- 
cal experience ; not read slowly for the sake of memorization of 
the facts. For the sake of economy, therefore, co-operative pub- 
lic purchase and ownership is desirable and necessary. 

The course of study for the grammar grades presents a 
long series of topics, and gives references in simply a general 
way. A great deal of unnecessary labor is thus thrown upon the 
teachers of the 8-1 grade b}^way of searching through the various 
books for the purpose of finding the materials on the different 
topics. It would be very economical in teacher's labor, which 
is greatly needed for other things, if the published course of 
study would give series of reading references in connection with 
the various topics of the outline. This could provide for all 
teachers as full a supply of reading references as is used by the 
best. It would be a great improvement to bring the work of all 
up to the level of the best. Such series of readings would not 
prevent any teacher's going farther afield in the search of still 
more appropriate materials if the teacher so Avished. It need not 
prevent any desired degree of flexibility in the administration of 
the course. As a matter of fact, it will promote flexibility and 
rational choice. By giving so large a nucleus of material ready 
at hand, teachers are given time to look further afield. 

III. CIVICS 

The course of study makes no adequate provision for the 
teaching of the civic problems met with by the people of Grand 
Rapids. It provides that thirty minutes a week in the first half 
of the seventh grade shall be given to civic problems. But the 
course suggested is optional; education materials are not pro- 
vided ; where they may be secured or what they may be is not 
indicated in any way. The course seems to be theoretically 
rounded out instead of being a series of topics adapted to the 
interests and mental maturity of the children ; or of relating to 
the civic needs of the city. 

The course also suggests that the civil government of the 
United States should be taught during the last semester of the 
eighth grade. As a matter of fact, the course is also providing 
that the entire national period shall be covered during that 
same time. The historical task is of such magnitude that it 
appears not possible to do both in the time at the disposal of 
the history. It is found, however, tliat in one of the junior high 



INSTRUCTION IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS 179 

schools about half of the time is found for the study of civil 
government. In other eighth grades this time is not found, and 
the history consumes all or practically all of the time. 

The chief criticism of the eighth-grade recommendations 
concerning civics is that the teaching suggested does not par- 
ticularly relate itself to our present-day civic problems. The 
thing recommended is a study of the structure of the govern- 
mental mechanism, mostly in the abstract. 

The structure of government, however, is not the thing that 
gives us most trouble. The thing needed by citizens generally 
as civic training is that enlightened public opinion on the many 
questions of public policy necessary for the efficient operation 
and supervision of the workings of the general mechanism of 
government. An understanding of problems of the type enumer- 
ated in the discussion of grammar-grade history is the thing 
needed in our present-day democracy. 

Civics should not be a mere addendum to "history. Quite 
the reverse, the civic problems should be central and the history 
subordinate, in the sense that historical materials are chosen for 
the illumination of the social civic problems. The two should 
possibly be developed together; but after the early chronological 
background has been taught, in all probability the organization 
of the two subjects should be brought about by first selecting the 
sociological civic problems that require historical illumination, 
and then developing the treatment with the history consciously 
used as only one of several means of illuminating the situation. 
Along with the history will be^geographic, economic, and scien- 
tific considerations, as the social problem is looked at from many 
angles. The city in this age of complicated problems is expend- 
ing but little time, effort, thoug'ht, or money upon the training 
for a conscious understanding of these many present-day prob- 
lems. 

The city is expending $32,000 annually for the teaching of 
drawing in the elementary schools, for which no such good case 
can be made out. The city is expending $30,000 each year for 
the teaching of music in the elementary schools, for which 
equally no such serious arguments can be brought. The city is 
expending more than $40,000 annually for the teaching of gram- 
mar in the elementary schools ; and yet there is probably no man 
who will urge that the problems of correct speaking on the part 
of the masses of the population is of equal importance with a 
wise performance of their civic duties. We would not under- 
value any of the studies mentioned. They are valuable. We 
merely wish to call attention to the probability that a thing that 
is still more valuable is being relatively neglected. 



180 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

The best thing being done at the present time in this field is 
the study of "current events". The study of such current events 
can be given vitality and significance, however, only as the 
readings are used for the illumination of social problems that 
have already been studied more or less systematically. The 
civic studies should therefore provide the apperceptive basis for 
an understanding of the significance of current events. 

IV. GEOGRAPHY 

Geography is accorded a place upon the program from the 
third grade to the middle of the seventh grade. In these grades 
the subject receives about the usual amount of time. The course 
of study manual outlines geographical studies for the last half 
of the seventh grade and for both terms of the eighth grade. 
These studies are given no separate place upon the program, 
however. It is expected that they be taught in connection with 
the American history. The studies relate solely to America, al- 
most wholly to the United States, and are the things that should 
properly be covered in developing an adequate understanding of 
United States history. 

Most of the work consists of learning the textbooks in the 
usual manner, and giving back the facts to the teacher in the 
recitation. As a rule, the matters to be covered in a given lesson 
are outlined in detail by the teacher. The pupils then learn the 
facts relative to each of the topics and in the recitations give 
back the facts which they have memorized for the purpose. 

The buildings are supplied with standard sets of geograph- 
ical readers adapted for the work of the later portions of the 
course. The readers supplied, however, are too difficult for the 
earlier portion of the work. Occasional sets of geographical 
readings of a varied character are found, in third, fourth, and 
fifth-grade rooms. In general, however, there is a great dearth 
of proper geographical reading material for these grades. For 
the later portion of the course the geography manual makes re- 
ference to certain geographical readings of a type rather more 
modern than that of the geographical readers generally supplied. 
It seems, however, that these better readings have not yet been 
generally supplied to the schools of the city in sets for class use. 

We recommend that serious attention be given to the mat- 
ter of supplying proper quality and quantity of geographical 
reading materials. Pure fact-memorization from the textbooks 
is ineffective because of the transiency and superficiality of re- 
sults, and the work is relatively wasteful because relatively in- 
effective. Effective geographical work must be experiential. In 
the reading of travels, of the lives of peoples in various lands, of 



INSTRUCTION IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS 181 

connected stories of the industrial life in our own and in other 
lands in connection with a variety of industries, etc., always 
noting the maps at the same time, and noting geographical re- 
lationships, the facts of geography can be given significance and 
substantiality. The experiential route, while appearing to be 
longer and more complicated than the simple direct memory 
method, is, however, the one that is most economical in the end. 
In this connection we wish to commend most highly the yet un- 
developed plan of teaching geographical relationships during the 
last year and a half of the elementary school, — namely in con- 
nection with the history. As the history course is expanded in 
the intermediate grades, the proper attention should be given to 
the geographical settings in the various countries touched upon 
in the historical readings. As the children read the stories of 
Greece, Rome, or colonial and pioneer life, there should always 
be a generous supply of maps and pictures for reference, by way 
of keeping clear the geographical background of the action. 

Very little evidence was observed of the use of the problem- 
method of teaching geography. This is a method of vitalizing 
the work, the use of which we wish strongly to recommend. The 
problem work can be most effective if based upon wide geo- 
graphical reading experience rather than upon the textbooks 
alone. It can, however, be used for giving a large degree of 
vitality to pure textbook study. 

The work of the third grade begins the subject with an at- 
tempt to develop the basic concepts necessary for an under- 
standing of industrial and commercial geography. In the words 
of the manual : "The industrial and commercial idea is the first 
central idea to be emphasized." Later then in the third grade, 
attention is given through both reading and observation to phy- 
siographic matters by way of developing the basic concepts for 
this side of the work. The elementary geography text is in the 
hands of the pupils. It is the judgment of the writer that com- 
mercial, industrial, and physiographic matters are not appropriate 
for the degree of immaturity of the pupils of the third grade. 
These are matters that should come considerably later. Inter- 
esting human stories that have a geographic setting and back- 
ground with which we desire the pupils to become familiar are 
more appropriate to the type of interest and degree of mental 
maturity of third-grade students. The schools that are using 
"Eskimo Stories", "Little Folks of Many Lands", etc., are dip- 
covering the type of material that ought to be used chiefly in 
the earlier portion of the work. The text is good for its maps 
and pictures. For these earlier grades it is usually, however, too 



182 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

abstract and too didactic to be used as the basis of the work. 
It is good reference material. 

The first half of the fourth grade deals with the geography 
of Grand Rapids, It deals with matters that naturally should 
be well understood by the people of the city. Many of the mat- 
ters of the outline, however, should preferably be taught in the 
history class that deals with the development of the city and the 
region. Many of the other matters are of an industrial, com- 
mercial and economic character that are intelligible only as 
Grand Rapids is seen in relation to the general situation through- 
out the United States. The economic aspects, moreover, are 
scarcely suited to the mental immaturity of the children. It is 
because the subject is important for both civic and industrial 
understanding that it should be taught at the period when it can 
be taught fully and taught well. The economic relationships ex- 
isting within a modern industrial city are too complicated for 
fourth-grade pupils. There is a dearth of proper reading matter ; 
and also a dearth of organized and significant materials which 
the teacher can present orally. Naturally the course presupposes 
a considerable amount of observation on the part of these fourth- 
grade classes, but observation can be only occasional and can se- 
cure but fragmentary glimpses of the various things. There 
must be reading materials in the hands of the pupils that present 
the various industries, etc., in a well-rounded, organic way, be- 
fore the fragmentary glimpses of direct observation can be prop- 
erly understood. The necessary reading materials should be pro- 
duced by the school people in Grand Rapids ; but they should be 
prepared for later grades. 

Naturally the observations and the general life experiences 
of the children of this fourth-grade level should be utilized so 
far as possible for developing the fundamental concepts relative 
to the geography of Grand Rapids, even at this early level. The 
things that can be properly done, however, at this point, are not 
sufficient for an entire half-year of work. This is indicated by 
the general practice of teachers in the city. The outline is not 
actually being followed. It seems that an outline should be pre- 
pared which can be followed, — always permitting the desirable 
degree of flexibility, of course. Where a half-year of work in any 
subject is looked upon as sufficiently important as to justify the 
expenditure of several thousand dollars of the people's money, 
it is of sufficient importance to warrant the careful course-of- 
study organization of types of work that can be fully carried on 
during the half-year. To provide one course and then leave 
teachers to make up and follow another is an indication that the 
work has not been done seriously, and is not intended for actual 
direction. Although the statement is here made in connection 



INSTRUCTION IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS 183 

Avith one specific grade and subject, the statement is applicable 
to portions of several courses. 

The course in geography provided for the second half of 
the fourth grade is of a very different character. It looks at the 
world and at different countries not from the specialized eco- 
nomic point of view, but from a general human point of view. 
It recommends that the thought experience be of a type found 
in "Little Journeys to Holland, Belgium, and Denmark." "The 
Wide World", "Around the World", "Seven Little Sisters", 
etc. The textbook is in the hands of the pupils, but Avhere the 
spirit of the course is carried out as apparently intended the chief 
value is as a reference book. So far as they go, the recommenda- 
tions are excellent. The list of books, however^ should be ex- 
tended and should be improved ,as the publishing houses im- 
prove their offerings ; and what is more, the books need to be in 
the hands of the children in full sets for the work. During the 
course of the year they need to read a number of books for full- 
ness of experience and width of geographic vision. In studies 
of this type the countries need be taken up in no particular order. 
The thing desired is mainly geographical experience touching 
upon life of all sorts in the various lands. With a well-worked- 
out system of exchange the city need not own such a large num- 
ber of sets of books of each kind in order to take care of the 
work in all of the various buildings. During the course of the 
year a single set might be used in eight or ten different build- 
ings. 

It should be noted by the school authorities that the pres- 
sent method of handling the supplementary reading materials is 
not economical. A set of books adapted for the use of a single 
grade in a building where there is but one class of that grade may 
be used once during the year for a month, and then stand for 
eleven months idle upon the book shelves. With a well-worked- 
out system of exchange it would be possible without any larger 
equipment of books than that now owned by the city to supply 
five times as -much reading opportunity to the classes in the 
various buildings. 

When the pupils have reached that stage of maturity that 
would justify the systematic study of the economic aspects of 
geography, an outline like that presented for the work of the 5-1 
class is excellent. There is a question, however, as to whether 
this course should be placed so early in the series. It is the 
judgment of the writer that it comes too early. If more history 
work were given in these earlier grades, with the geography at 
tTie time in the background but fully developed as the back- 
ground of the history, an excellent foundation would be laid 



184 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

during this period both for the history and the later economic 
industrial geography. A course of this type demands a wealth of 
systematized reading materials, together with the necessary 
industrial maps, charts, etc. To provide an outline of the type 
here presented and then actually furnish the pupils in most of 
the schools with only the regular textbooks, the teachers find it 
scarcely possible to do anything other than to teach the text- 
books in the wasteful, old-fashioned way. They do not effective- 
ly lend themselves to the furtherance of such a program. 

The first half of the sixth-grade work is devoted to "geo- 
graphic principles." The first four of the six topics assigned 
to this grade relate to mathematic geography. Certain of the 
things need to be known, but in general the matters actually 
needed can be got incidentally, sufficiently for all practical pur- 
poses, and therefore should require practically none of the as- 
signed time of the grade. The last two topics relate to the fac- 
tors of climate and the applications of the principles of climate 
to conditions in North and South America. Naturally, a good 
understanding of these matters is desirable. But it is not neces- 
sary to give most of the half-year of 6-1 time to these matters of 
climate. If so much time is necessary for that degree of under- 
standing necessary for all practical purposes, then the pupils 
must be too immature for the work, or the teaching helps are in- 
adequate for the purpose. 

It is the judgment of the writer that at this particular level 
of geographic teaching the principles of climate should be intro- 
duced in connection with studies of a concrete character in which 
the climatic principles are actually seen at work controlling the 
factors within the situation. To read a full and concrete story 
of Eskimo life is the method of making perfectly clear to children 
the climatic effects of high latitudes. To read a story^ of life 
in the high Alps, is to teach in the most effective fashion the 
effects of high altitudes upon climate. A concrete study of the 
life and activities of peoples in Arabia or North Africa or certain 
portions of our far West, is to show concretely and effectively 
the effects of dryness as a principle of geographic control. In 
connection with such concrete stories, if the pupils are suffi- 
ciently mature, one finds the best possible setting for an explan- 
ation of the dryness through a consideration of prevailing winds, 
the proximity of bodies of water, etc. At a later stage of the 
work in the systematic study of cotton, wheat, coffee, corn, etc., 
etc., again we are dealing with concrete situations in connection 
with which the geographical controls can be seen actually and 
actively at work. They can only be understood rightly as they 
are thus seen at work. We are not here recommending that the 
climatic principles be taught "incidentally". We are recommend- 



INSTRUCTION IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS 185 

ing that they be taught as they are seen to be integral portions 
of real situations ; taught consciously and purposively ; but 
taught in connection with specific situations in order that they 
may be taught effectively. When taught in the abstract there 
are only the forms of teaching. It is not vital. The results are 
superficial and transient. In the way of intellectual benefits, the 
work is largely a waste of time. 

Although the manual presents a progressive type of course 
for the seventh grade, the actual work of the schools follows the 
text for the most part. In general the excellent books recom- 
mended for the work of the 7-1 grade are not to be found in the 
different buildings in sufficient quantities to supply the individ- 
ual pupils, and cannot therefore be effectively used. An outline 
method of teaching a subject of this type with pupils gathering 
materials from a great variety of sources cannot be satisfactory 
for students of the seventh grade. The need of continuity, of a 
substantial basis of organization practically forces the following 
of the textbook upon teachers. Merely to provide a topical 
outline is not really to provide the conditions of a different type 
of work. 

So much time has been given to a consideration of the 
geography because of the very great importance of the subject; 
and because of the possibilities of improvement in a great variety 
of ways. 

Various types of geographic helps are supplied to the build- 
ings for the work. We have already referred to the so-called 
supplementary reading. For the most part it is reading classi- 
fied as of this type that should be the basis of the work. As 
other things are recommended it should always be kept in mind 
that proper and well-illustrated reading, on the one hand, and 
maps, upon the other, are the two principal things needed in the 
work. The schools appear to be well supplied with maps and 
globes. For certain aspects of the work teachers express the 
need of certain other maps not now in the possession of the 
schools. Probably the greatest need of this character is for 
outline maps of different countries for the work of the pupils in 
the upper grades. In the matter of pictures one finds that a fair 
beginning has been made in providing the schools with stereopti- 
con outfits and with geographic slides for stereopticons. ^ This 
is not yet well developed, either on the side of the quantity of 
provision or upon that of effective use of the materials for the 
teaching. It is one thing to present pictures and talk about them 
at random and quite another thing to use them for illustrating 
the details of a general well-rounded treatment of a geographic 
topic. Pictures should generally be subsidiary and merely for 



186 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

illustrating the details of the larger story which constitutes the 
primary thing. 

V. ARITHMETIC 

Formal work begins in the second grade and receives an ade- 
quate amount of time during the rest of the course. The alge- 
braic work suggested and provided in the textbooks is not used. 

The purpose of the work in general appears to be well con- 
ceived. This is indicated by the relative emphasis upon the 
various topics. The major attention is given to skill, accuracy, 
and speed in computation. Drill in these fundamentals covers 
whole numbers, common and decimal fractions, denominate num- 
bers, percentage and its applications, business operations, and 
mensuration. 

An interesting situation is found with reference to the use 
of the textbook. Many teachers say they do not use it in their 
work. Others use it but little. The text deals so largely with 
so-called reasoning problems in which the fundamental facts are 
so often unfamiliar or obscure. The desire seems to be, every- 
where through the system, for problems in which the relations 
lie clearly upon the surface, so that the major effort may be ex- 
pended upon the computation for the sake of the drill in arith- 
metical operations. This practice is to be commended. 

For drill in the fundamental operations involving whole 
numbers the Courtis practice material is used in the schools 
throughout the city. In almost all cases this type of work is 
looked upon with favor by the teachers and principals. It pro- 
vides the large amount of necessary drill ready at hand, to- 
gether with methods of diagnosis of individual needs and meth- 
ods of economically checking up of the work. Except for drill 
opportunity afforded by this material, teachers throughout the 
system, from the lower grades to the highest, are compelled to 
write the major portion of the problem material upon the black- 
board day after day. The copying of such problems upon the 
blackboard is a wasteful method of using the expensive time of 
teachers. Further, it often results in arithmetic lessons that are 
too short because of the demands for blackboard space and the 
various demands upon the teacher's time. It is further a relative- 
ly unprofitable method of employing the classroom time of the 
pupils to copy the long- lists of problems that really are needed 
when the work is effectively done. Good work generally re- 
quires many problems per day, a large proportion of which in 
connection with most arithmetical topics should be of the easy 
so-called mental arithmetic type, Avith only a minor portion of 
them of that degree of complexity requiring written Avork. Na- 



INSTRUCTION IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS 187 

turally under the circumstances teachers cannot supply the neces- 
sary wealth of easy problems, except as they are given orally 
during class time. 

For the work of the sixth grade a pamphlet has been pub- 
lished by the school authorities which presents a considerable 
quantity of supplementary arithmetic problems. Printed helps 
of this type, though much fuller in content and variety of arith- 
metical opportunity, should be provided for the work of each of 
the grades. It would cost much less to supply the city with 
such printed supplementary helps than it now costs to pay for 
that time of the teacher that is devoted to preparing daily lists 
of problems, and then copying them upon the blackboard ; and 
the plan could be made much more effective. This is recom- 
mended whatever be the textbook adopted for the basic treat- 
ment of the work. 

In general, the work is of the textbook and drill t3^pe, good 
of its kind, but is mostly undeveloped on the side of practical 
applications during the later grades. The manual makes the 
statement that, "In the primary grades the emphasis has been 
placed upon the four fundamentals, and in the grammar grades 
upon the applications to actual life." One finds no great amount 
of evidence, however, of the application of the arithmetic to 
community problems, civic problems, occupational problems, 
shop problems, as these are actually found within the community 
itself. In one school visited the pupils themselves were actually 
drawing up and dictating problem material as based upon facts 
drawn from community life. For example, there were problems 
based upon the increased cost of sugar at the present time, over 
what it was two years ago ; the increased cost of gasoline this 
year over what it was a year ago ; changes in the cost of paper, 
of dye-stufifs, etc. This type of problem relates itself very inti- 
mately with the community situation, and should be more wide- 
ly used. It should be developed so as to relate to current grocery 
problems, problems of the meat market, the hardware store, the 
drygoods store, builders' supplies, public utility corporations, 
furniture manufacture, street paving, street cleaning, road con- 
struction, household accounts, the school fuel bill, the cost 
of teaching arithmetic annually to 15,000 pupils, the cost of sani- 
tary arrangements and precautions, the problems of the play- 
ground and park situation, etc., etc. The applications of arith- 
metic in the past have largely dealt with commercial trans- 
actions. Most of such applications are important. At the pres- 
ent time there are many other commercial applications that are 
also important, which need to be introduced. But besides the 
applications to commercial transactions, there should be appli- 



188 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

cations to a large variety of such other things as enumerated 
in the list. 

A class in one of the schools took up the task of working 
up the results as found in their building of the recent survey- 
Courtis tests. The work involved a series of problems relating 
to the finding of averages and of percentages. It is work of a 
practical type that in larger degree might well be given over to 
the pupils for training in the last grammar grade or two. Most 
of the work of this type should, however, be reserved for the 
grades of the high-school level. For most students upon this 
level arithmetic will always remain the most important mathe- 
matical subject. 

VI. GRAMMAR, LANGUAGE, COMPOSITION 

This series of subjects receives very diverse treatment in 
different schools in the city. Sometimes large emphasis is 
placed upon the grammar, and relatively little upon the composi- 
tion. Sometimes the large emphasis is upon the composition, 
with relatively less upon the grammar. Sometimes there seems 
to be about equal amounts of time given to the two sides of the 
matter. In the grammar grades of certain schools English gram- 
mar is entirely omitted, and beginning Latin is used as the 
avenue for the teaching of such grammar as the children need. 
Previous to the sixth grade all of the work outlined in the 
printed manual is bracketed under composition. The outline 
for the last three grades provides for both grammar and compo- 
sition. 

Grammar 

On the side of the grammar, a beginning language book of 
the usual miscellaneous type is used in the fifth and sixth 
grades, and an advanced text of systematic English grammar in 
the seventh and eighth grades. In general the plan of treatment 
provided in the text is followed. The materials are sometimes 
changed in the order of treatment, but in general the textbooks 
furnish the materials. As observed on the grammar-grade level 
the work consists of the learning of grammatical definitions, 
parsing, and analysis of sentences as the major features. In the 
few classes where the work was observed it appeared to differ 
rather greatly in character. Sometimes the pupils were alert, 
the work proceeded rapidly and with reasonable efficiency, and 
the pupils appeared to be mastering the essentials of the sub- 
ject. In other cases, the work appeared to be perfunctory, the 
recitations were guesses, the pupils appeared to be very little 
interested, and there was a large amount of general passivity 



INSTRUCTION IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS 189 

and indifference. In one class visited the work was almost wholly 
devoted to definitions and classifications, and the teacher was 
insisting strenuously upon the necessity of having all of the 
definitions accurate as stated in the text. In other classes the 
emphasis appeared to be upon a more active type of exercise, 
namely, the analysis of sentences. 

The writer wishes specially to commend the plan of teach- 
ing that is being developed in one of the buildings, and would 
recommend its extension throughout the system. Possibly it 
may already be employed in other buildings, but was not ob- 
served. The work is based mainly upon the active exercise of 
the analysis of sentences. A series of sentences is drawn up 
illustrating each important grammatical structure or relation- 
ship the understanding of which is to be developed. In the vari- 
ous lists the beginning sentences present the structure or the 
relationship in its simplest possible form. The lists of sentences 
then grow gradually more difficult, but with a gradient so slight 
that the power to climb the more difficult levels is acquired in 
the process of approaching those levels. Definitions do not 
have to be learned. Children have an opportunity to see the 
realities as they exist within the sentence structure. They can 
explain the nature and relationships of those realities. This 
serves as a substitute for the learning of definitions and accom- 
plishes the thing that is really desired. The textbook has some 
value in supplying practice material, though in general the sen- 
tences supplied are not well chosen or arranged for carrying 
out the plan. The text is of further value in the organization of 
things after they have been learned in the more active way. It 
is good for summary and for reference. 

To make this plan general would require either a differ- 
ent text or printed lists of sentence material for the purpose. 
Analysis should be both oral and graphic, but should always 
be simple, direct, time-saving, and deal with fundamentals. It 
should not be too repetitious of things that are already fully 
known. The best type of diagram is probably one in which the 
words are written in their regular sentence order and arrange- 
ment, and the relationships indicated graphically by means of 
simple signs or symbols. 

The present method of teaching beginning Latin in the 
grammar grades of certain schools as a means of arriving at a 
proper understanding of English grammar has grown in part out 
of a dissatisfaction with the results achieved through the more 
direct route of teaching the English grammar. The results of the 
experiment appear to be rather more satisfactory than those of 
the English grammar textbook plan. The Latin students are 



190 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

able to pass the English gTammar examinations with a rather 
higher standing; and in addition they have the benefit of the 
Latin understanding as well. If after the English grammar 
teaching has been strengthened in ways easily possible, further 
experimentation reveals similar equality of results, there would 
be clear justification for an extension of the plan. 

Composition 

As one inquires into the composition situation one early 
discovers the influential presence of "The News Junior", the 
children's weekly supplement to one of the Jarge dailies. In 
this are published each week the literary contributions of three 
or four dozen school children. By furnishing a wide reading 
public, it vitalizes the written expression of hundreds and even 
thousands of the children. The plan is commendable, and the 
schools in general seem to be taking a full advantage of the op- 
portunity. 

A second mode of vitalizing the composition Avork in the 
eighth grade was by using it as one feature in the training for 
vocational guidance. In one of the buildings the pupils of the 
finishing eighth-grade class were making a fairly extended study, 
after consultation with parents, relatives, and associates as to 
the possibilities and probabilities of future vocational choices. 
This was being written up in systematic form by way of making 
definite the various problems involved. In other cases themes 
deal with the situations in connection with various occupations. 

Another commendable type of composition work, both oral 
and written, is the preparation of careful reports on observations 
or collateral reading relative to historical topics, geographical 
topics, civic topics, hygienic topics, nature study topics, etc. And 
there is also full practice in letter writing. 

It is possible that the written composition work should con- 
sist mainly of these two things. As one teacher phrases : "These 
children in after-life are going to write only three things : let- 
ters, simple memoranda, and occasionally reports. The only kind 
of composition in which they need training, therefore, are the 
two things of letter writing and reports." 

This teacher's view of the matter is sound and practical. 
It is also in complete accord with the demands of good method in 
the teaching- of the so-called content subjects. The work in 
civics, hygiene, sanitation, history, geography, etc., require for 
clear thinking on the part of the pupils an abundance of oral and 
written expression. A proper carrying out of the work in these 



INSTRUCTION IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS 191 

subjects, therefore, takes care incidentally of an endless number 
and variety of oral and written reports. 

It is probable that relatively little time should be given upon 
the program to the separate teaching of composition ; and that 
a less quantity of time than is now given should be devoted to 
the teaching of the English grammar. In general, the composi- 
tion work would best be the expression work in connection with 
all of the content subjects ; and the grammar work, beyond the 
minimum essentials covered in the grammar class, should be the 
attention of the pupils to their language in order to make it as 
effective and correct as possible, — that is to say, applied gram- 
mar. This plan would eliminate that type of composition where 
the emphasis is upon the form illustrated or studied and not 
upon the thought presented. It would also eliminate a good 
deal of the grammar for which the pupils have no practical 
use. Some of the most difficult things of grammar, for example, 
relate to speech forms in which children rarely or never make 
mistakes. As the grammar tends to be applied grammer and 
related to the oral and written composition, the things not need- 
ed are automatically omitted. 

VII. SPELLING 

In certain of the buildings spelling receives a quite large 
relative amount of time. In other buildings only a half or a 
third as much time is given to the subject. In one 6-2 class 150 
minutes of class work per week are given to the subject, and in 
another 6-2 class in the same portion of the city, having practi- 
cally the same character of population, the amount of time re- 
ported is only 35 minutes per week. If the results secured are 
rellatively equal, there is waste of time and effort at one of the 
schools. If the work in the building employing the smaller 
amount of time is distinctly inferior to that of the other building, 
then the amount of time should be increased. The conclusion 
seems unavoidable that some supervisory adjustment should be 
made. Just what it should be, however, cannot be determined 
without a measurement of the results of the work In the two 
buildings. The Survey has undertaken no such measurements; 
but the supervisory people by means of a standardized test, 
the same for both buildings, could easily make determinations. 
Out of an extension of such measurements to all buildings ought 
to be found the minimum amount of time necessary for the class- 
work in the schools in general. 

An excellent method of training In spelling that has been 
well developed in certain of the buildings, and the use of which 



192 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

should be carefully fostered in all of them is well represented 
by the advice given in the manual : "The pupils are expected 
to keep individual or class lists of troublesome v^ords. The 
realization on the part of the pupil that a certain word gives him 
difficulty in spelling is the first step in his learning to spell that 
word correctly.'' 

As a matter of fact it is this aspect of the spelling training to 
which the most careful attention should be given. Our language 
is largely phonetic and wide-awake pupils spell most of the words 
that they use in their writing correctly without any training be- 
yond that of the primary grades. By much correct writing in 
connection with their composition work, etc., they fix habits of 
spelling most of their words correctly. Words that they miss 
should be caught early before habits are fixed in connection with 
the use of the words. They should find their way into the list of 
words that need watching, so that a word misspelled once can- 
not, if proper attention is given to the matter, be misspelled in 
their writing a second time ; or at least not for long. 

In the primary grades it is desirable to spell all kinds of 
words, though usually with the printed or written word before 
the pupil as he spells. The purpose of this training is to asso- 
ciate phonetic and letter values, and to develop an appreciation 
of the letter content of words in general. After the third grade, 
if the written composition work is of sufficient quantity, this 
appreciation of the letter content of words is well taken care of 
through the composition. There is little need, therefore, in the 
case of most pupils of employing time in the spelling class for 
the purpose. 

The word lists presented in the prescribed spelling text, 
which is universally used throughout the city, are in part made 
up of words that are phonetic and which are not sufficiently fre- 
quently misspelled to justify the expenditure upon them of 
much class study and recitation time. In part they can be justi- 
fied as training in the appreciation of the letter content of words ; 
but if the composition work is filled out so as to cover reports on 
all sorts of themes, thus involving a varied vocabulary, the com- 
position work affords sufficient exercise of this type. 

Other words in the prescribed spelling text are those that are 
misspelled with considerable frequency in the written work of 
students. They need study by those who misspell them. It is 
difficult to find any justification of spending time upon them by 
students who do not misspell them. 

It is recommended that previous to assignment of lists of 
words for careful study a rapid written test covering a fairly 
large number of words be made ; that pupils be excused entirely 



INSTRUCTION IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS 193 

from a study of words that are not misspelled ; that where a 
word is misspelled by a very few pupils that it be assigned for 
the study only of those pupils who have misspelled the word; 
that class study and recitation be devoted to only those words 
that were misspelled with considerable frequency by the class ; 
that the place where the mistakes were made be pointed out to 
the class in their study of the lesson in order that they may know 
the things for which they must be on their guard : that the work 
of the recitation be not so much sensory drill in spelling the 
word over and over again, in ways observed in certain classes, 
but that it be attention to the hard spots in the words and having 
pupils point out and explain the things against which they 
must keep watch ; and finally, that the words thus taught should 
be reviewed in study and class periods occasionally by way of 
keeping in mind the things learned until habits of correct spell- 
ing are definitely fixed in the case of the majority of the pupils. 

By this method of elimination far fewer words will need 
to be taught ; they can be taught with greater efifectiveness ; and 
much less time need be consumed. In the case of the majority 
of the pupils, they can be doing things that are more profitable to 
them. 

It appears that the spelling of word lists is now considered 
the basic training for correct spelling. It is the belief of the 
writer that the work can be made more effective if the compo- 
sition work as fully developed is looked upon as the primary 
exercise in the training of spelling. We find here another rea- 
son for a further development of the composition work. 

The thing to be aimed at chiefly is to develop a habit on the 
part of the pupils of watching every word, as they write it, so 
as to be quite sure that they have it correct before setting it down 
upon their papers, or before leaving it if it has been written 
incorrectly. The thing most needed is the habit of looking up 
words in the dictionary or in their corrective word-lists, when- 
ever there is any doubt in the matter. The certainty that they 
are going to be caught in case they misspell words and that there 
is going to be intensive corrective drill on the words that are 
caught, is a large part of the stimulation to watchfulness. 

The plan requires pupil-help in the reading of the papers for 
catching all misspelled words. It is excellent training in spelling 
for the readers, however, since it develops exactly the habit de- 
sired, namely, the critical habit of looking intimately into the 
letter-structure of words by way of .seeing if they are correctly 
spelled. 



194 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

VIII. NATURE STUDY 

With very few exceptions elementary science is confined to 
the first four grades, and does not find a place upon the program 
during the last four grades. The course of study manual out- 
lines work for all eight grades, covering plant life, sea life, bird 
life, insect life, pond life, rocks and minerals, and the weather. 
The work consists mainly of observation and discussion by way 
of familiarizing children with and making them conscious of 
common surrounding phenomena of nature. The mode of treat- 
ment is of a type that for the most part exhausts the possibilities 
of the subject by the time the fifth grade is reached. If the work 
is to continue through the last four grades, different modes of 
work using different materials become necessary. 

In one building the elementary science is given full time 
upon the program through all of the later grades, and in one of 
the junior high schools elementary science finds a place in the 
last semester of the eighth grade. These developments repre- 
sent a tendency that should be encouraged. The course of work 
in these later grades should be very different from that recom- 
mended in the manual. It should deal rather more with the 
science involved in the concrete things and concrete situations 
in which the children are already interested, and with which" 
they are actively concerned in their work, their play, their home 
life, etc. The elementary science should deal with electric bells, 
electric lights, telephone, telegraph, batteries, cells, machines, 
gas engines, the school heating and ventilation plant, the refrig- 
erator, the cultivation of plants in the school and the home 
garden, the care of the milk supply, the sanitary aspects of the 
water supply, the protection of trees from the depredations of 
noxious insects, etc., etc. Practical things and situations with 
which the children are concerned present the opportunity for a 
great abundance of vital elementary science work. On this 
level there should be no great attempt to systematize it unduly. 
It is mainly a matter of unravelling the science elements as they 
enter into the many situations, and of seeing them at work. The 
purpose is familiarity with the endless variety of science matters 
that make up one's environment. 

Naturally the work needs to be rich in actual contact with 
realities, with observation, experimentation, and actual control 
of the science factors. The present use of museum materials for 
the bird and mineralogical study, and of the field observations 
will be continued. But there is further a large need also of 
laboratory opportunity. We do not have reference to such syste- 
matic work as found in the. high-school laboratories, nor to ex- 
pensive apparatus of the type there used. But to study elec- 



INSTRUCTION IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS 195 

tricity, the children do need some common electrical appliances 
like cells, wiring materials, electric bells, electric light globes, 
toy motors, etc. A good many of the things can be brought in 
by the pupils, and others can be made in their manual training 
hour. In a study of fermentation, sterilization, pasteurization, 
etc., pupils will need only such containing vessels and chemical 
thermometers as can be borrowed from the domestic science 
room. In studying atmospheric precipitation, one needs only a 
glass or metal vessel of water and a bit of ice. Resourceful spe- 
cial teachers who know science can bring pupils into contact with 
a large variety of scientific phenomena without elaborate appar- 
atus. Naturally there are certain inexpensive pieces of appar- 
atus that will have to be furnished, and a good many kinds of 
inexpensive supplies, before the work can be well done. 

Very many of the science situations will be met with in the 
shop, kitchen, and school and home garden work of the children. 
Some of such science will be observational only. Other portions 
will be taken up for further laboratory elucidation and analysis. 
This work cannot be exhaustive or quantitative. The purpose 
is chiefly to bring children into observant and thoughtful con- 
tact with scientific realities so as to develop a familiarity with 
these realities. If they do not go on to high school they will 
have some acquaintance with things with which they will have 
to deal all their lives. If they go to high school, a certain founda- 
tional understanding will have been laid for the later more exact 
and intensive work. 

Elementary science is not science unless it deals with reali- 
ties in ways mentioned. But not all reality can be met with in 
immediate experience. Very often this latter is chiefly of value 
simply as supplying the alphabet for a far wider even though 
more superficial contact with wider reality to be obtained 
through reading. It is certain that in connection with many of 
the things studied there should also be a quantity of reading ma- 
terial for purposes of organization of the science involved and for 
the purpose of extending the pupils' understanding to other re- 
lated interesting things with which he cannot be actually in im- 
mediate contact. As one studies, for example, the protection of 
trees and plants from noxious insects, it is possible for the 
children to have only glimpses here and there within the city of 
the actual ravages of such insects. These glimpses are necessary 
for an understanding of the general problem, and for giving them 
a sense of the realities involved. After such familiarity with a 
few fragmentary instances, they need a few dozen pages of illus- 
trated reading matter which shows the nature of the most im- 
portant types of insect ravages, the things most often attacked, 



196 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

the insects that make the attacks, the nature of the injury, the 
economic and geographic extent of the injurious influence, etc. 
This larger understanding is the thing chiefly to be aimed at. 
The simple observations made in field and classroom work are 
in large measure but preparatory for the reading work that 
presents the situation in a large and organized way. The same 
can be said for many of the other science topics. Our science 
work in the elementary school tends often to be weak largely 
because we have only the observational glimpses and the random 
discussion relating to these, and then do not utilize the alphabet 
of nature thus learned for seeing the wider significances. 

A realization of this need for readings is general through- 
out the city system. In one of the buildings one finds a system- 
atized series of readings supplied in sets large enough for class 
use, and intended to do for the subject covered the thing recom- 
mended in the preceding paragraph. Such books as the follow- 
ing are used : Fultz' **Seed Travelers", Morley's "Butterflies 
and Bees", Miller's "True Bird Stories", Stoke's "Ten Common 
Trees", and "Stories for Wonder Eyes". The principal stated 
that she also wanted a book suited to the interests and maturity 
of the childen upon rocks and minerals, such as she has been as 
yet unable to find. 

For the science work of these grades proper reading ma- 
terials, well illustrated, are often more important than expensive 
laboratory apparatus or museum materials. The schools should 
have these latter things, it is true ; but in general, it is not the 
laboratory side but rather the reading side of the problem that 
presents the greatest difficulty. The educational profession has 
not yet developed a sufficient demand for these reading ma- 
terials, and the natural consequence is that suitable readings on 
many of the topics are difficult or impossible to secure. 

It may be said the teachers would best present the matters 
orally. To begin with, teachers in general have not the neces- 
sary information. They have neither the materials nor the time 
for getting them ; and further, imder present conditions they 
need a type of reading materials for securing the information 
themselves that is similar in most respects to that needed by the 
pupils. To leave the matter to the general grade teachers under 
present conditions is to demand of them the impossible. The 
work can be done only as it is departmentalized and put into the 
hands of special teachers who give their whole time to the work. 

IX. PHYSICAL EDUCATION 

Physical education presents problems of great complexity 
because the training involves the distribution of duties among 



INSTRUCTION IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS 197 

classroom teachers, the physical training department, the school 
physician, and the school nurse. The work must then look 
toward building up the individual physically, the formation of 
right habits, prevention of wrong habits and of deleterious con- 
ditions, the giving of information concerning hygiene and sani- 
tation, the generous use of physical play, the use of corrective 
exercises for those to whom the play is insufficient for physical 
development, etc. 

The field is one in which it is generally recognized that ex- 
perimental education is the only type that can be considered effi- 
cient. The mere memorizing of facts from books is seen to be 
an ineffective method of accomplishing the ends in view. 

On the side of the upbuilding of the individual physically, 
the program of work in Grand Rapids schools provides for a 
very elaborate course of formal gymnastics, and a parallel course 
of plays, games, marches, rhythmic exercises, etc. The formal 
exercises have been pretty thoroughly systematized and to these 
the major portion of the time is devoted. The evidence for the 
relatively large amount of time given to formal gymnastics was 
obtained chiefly from principals and teachers ; it must be stated 
in this connection that the writer during eight days of visiting 
schools when they were in session did not observe the use of 
the formal gymnastics in any of the physical training exercises 
met with. In almost all cases, the weather being fine, the work 
was out of doors upon the playgrounds, and consisted chiefly of 
active games, rhythmic exercises, etc., of the type that has the 
greater appeal to children, and which are greatly superior for 
physical development than the formal classroom posturing pro- 
vided for in the formal portion of the manual. There seems to 
be a clear tendency toward diminishing the quantity of emphasis 
to be placed upon the calisthenics, and a large increase of em- 
phasis upon active play. This tendency cannot be too highly 
commended. 

The effective physical development to be obtained through 
active play has been and is yet in part restricted because of the 
unsuitability of the physical equipment provided at so many of 
the schools. Playgrounds in some cases are too small. The 
board of education in recognition of this fact is at present doing 
as much as the funds will permit in the way of enlarging outdoor 
playground facilities. Even more serious is the lack in the ma- 
jority of the older buildings of indoor play opportunities during 
those months when outdoor play is in part inhibited by weather 
conditions. About all has been done by the school authorities 
that is possible in the way of fitting up basement playrooms. An 
undeveloped possibility is the use of movable furniture in class- 



198 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

rooms that will permit a variety of uses of the rooms, including 
the physical training. The suggestion is more practical for first- 
floor rooms than for those of the second floor, because of the 
character of the floors in the old buildings. 

All of our large cities are finding that the provision for ade- 
quate physical play on the part of children through the entire 
year is one of the most difficult problems, and one which de- 
mands large community investment both in buildings and in 
grounds. The problem should be solved by the community in 
connection with the total park and recreation movement, and 
should not be looked upon simply as a public school movement. 
Whether an elaborate school plant is economical or not to the 
community depends upon the quantity of its use on the part of 
all classes, both juvenile and adult. 

In the matter of training the children in the informational 
aspects of hygiene and sanitation, a reading course in the subject 
has been provided which covers all of the grades beginning with 
the fourth. To this it appears that about thirty minutes per 
week is given in each of the grades. The fourth grade reads an 
introductory physiology. The fifth and sixth grades read books 
dealing in concrete interesting ways with personal hygiene an^d 
community sanitation. The seventh and eighth grades read a 
more advanced book of physiology mainly, with some attention 
to hygiene. In general it is expected that the books be read, 
understood, and the facts appreciated so that they can be used 
in the development of habits; but it appears not to be expected 
that the books shall be memorized and the facts given back 
to the teacher in the old-type recitation and examination. The 
reading gives a general over-view of things that should be under- 
stood. It makes the necessary suggestions. It intends to de- 
velop right attitudes towards the whole matter of personal and 
community hygiene. The plan is good so far as it goes. But it 
is insufficient. The thing most needed in the further develop- 
ment of the plan is dependent upon the work of the school 
physicians and nurses. At the present time the city is very in- 
sufficiently supplied with both physicians and nurses. It is 
these, however (partly through talks to classes, but in larger 
degree incidentally but systematically and in connection with 
health supervision) who should keep alive in the minds of the 
children, and drive home because of the authoritative force of 
their position, the suggestions and information on hygiene and 
sanitation that have been met with in connection with the reading 
covered in the classroom. Just as we are coming to demand that 
vocational teaching shall be given by people who are practical 
specialists in the several fields, so we are coming to feel that 



INSTRUCTION IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS 199 

the responsible instruction in hygiene and sanitation in its later 
stages and in part all along the line should be given by those 
who are felt by the pupils to be thorough and practical special- 
ists in the field. Teaching here should have the sanction of medi- 
cal authority. In the preliminary readings the teachers can lay 
a broad and secure foundation for the work. On this, then, 
physicians and school nurses can build with effectiveness. In 
the textbooks chosen by the city it is possible that the science 
motive is relatively too prominent. Children are not intro- 
spective. They can best be reached by readings in which the 
social motive is dominant. Materials of this character are rather 
rapidly being made available by our publishing houses and by 
health officials. There can probably be no objection to leaving 
the science reading in the course as full as at present in the 
seventh and eighth grades. But other readings should be added 
which approach the problems more from the social point of 
view at the same time. Since the subject is more important than 
grammar, time can be found for the extra reading recommended. 

X. MUSIC 

No sufficient examination was made of the teaching of music. 
Only the general outlines of the work were observed. A rather 
uniform amount of time is given to the subject throughout the 
various buildings, seventy-five minutes per week being almost 
universal. The work continues throughout the high school as 
a full credit course. 

So far as possible it appears that the work in vocal music 
consists of singing. It is built upon the very sound theory that 
"the only way to teach children to sing is to have them sing." 
The plan is designed to provide the necessary technical informa- 
tion, but since there are eight years in the elementary grades 
over which to distribute it, it is possible to give it gradually, to 
make continual application of it without taking any undue 
amount of time from that practical application of it involved in 
the singing by the pupils. The plan appears to be a well-bal- 
anced one. The results obtained are proof of the effectiveness 
of the course. 

In addition to the vocal music, full encouragement is given 
by the schools to instrumental. It is certainly unusual to find 
within a city of the size of Grand Rapids eight grammar-school 
orchestras, with an instrumentation ranging from ten to sixteen ; 
then to find further a high-school orchestra in each of the three 
high schools, with an instrumentation of forty pieces in the larg- 
est. Each grammar-grade orchestra is usually made up of 
pupils drawn from two or three neighboring schools. The result 



200 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS. MICHIGAN 

is that practically every school has a share in an orchestra that 
can be used for social functions at the school. The work ap- 
pears to be developing in a very healthy way, and promises a 
great future for community music in Grand Rapids. 

A commendable beginning has been made in supplying the 
schools with the facilities for the mechanical reproduction of the 
world's great music. The schools themselves have been raising 
funds for purchasing victrolas, and the board is expending $50 
per year in the purchase of records which circulate among the 
buildings. The sets, of which the board has already purchased 
quite a number, are chosen by the supervisor of music so as to 
illustrate the different musical forms. They can be used, there- 
fore, not only for appreciation, as the term is often defined, but 
also for understanding of forms that can be produced in no other 
way by the limited facilities in the elementary schools. It is 
possible that the city might do well to be even more generous 
than $50 a year, considering the type of cheap music that is so 
often dinned into children's ears at our commercialized places of 
entertainment. This is but a small per cent of what the city is 
actually expending in a single night upon less profitable and less 
effective juvenile entertainment. 

The work in music appears to be proceeding along good 
lines. The only thing to recommend is further expansion and 
development of things already under way. 



XI. MANUAL TRAINING, HOUSEHOLD ARTS, ETC. 

Manual training is given to all of the boys, and sewing and 
cooking to all of the girls during the fifth, sixth, seventh and 
eighth grades. The amount of time varies in different schools. 
The most usual allowance is one hour in the 5-1, two hours in 
the 5-2 and sixth grades, and two hours and a half through the 
seventh and eighth grades. In one of the junior high schools, 
however, it is four hours a week during the seventh and eighth 
grades, and in another it is five hours per week. As compared 
with the practice of cities in general, the time given to these 
subjects in Grand Rapids is quite generous. A comparison of the 
average amount of time given to practical activities in fifty 
cities, as reported by Professor Holmes, with the time allowed 
in Grand Rapids is submitted in the following table. The regu- 
lar grade buildings are differentiated from the junior high-school 
work in seventh and eighth grades in the table. 



INSTRUCTION IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS 201 

TABLE XXXI 
Time Given to Manual Training and Household Occupations. 

Grand Rapids Average 

Grade BIdgs. Junior H. S. Fifty Cities 

Grade 5 60 60 50 

Grade 6 80 80 57 

Grade 7 100 135 72 

Grade 8 100 153 74 

Total 340 428 253 

During the four later grades of the elementary school the 
city is devoting 35 per cent and in the Junior High School about 
70 per cent more time to the practical work of boys and girls 
than is the average of cities in general throughout the country. 
This generous time-allowance represents sound and progressive 
educational policy. The allotment is not too large. 

Manual Training for Boys 

The manual training for boys in the fifth and sixth grades is 
knife-work done on trays placed on top of their regular class- 
room desks. The work is done not in a shop but in the class- 
rooms. This results in economy of building space and equip- 
ment. In proportion to the economy thus effected, the character 
of the work suffers through lack of proper shop facilities. 

The knife exercises are directed in all cases by special teach- 
ers. These are women. The explanation is again perhaps econ- 
omy. It would appear that shop-work for boys eleven and 
twelve years of age should cover exercises representing a variety 
of mechanical occupations of types usually performed by men, 
and that therefore the teachers should be men. There is a 
further reason possibly for the employment here of the women 
teachers. The work is in no sense of a practical character, and 
it has little relation to labors performed in any practical voca- 
tion, whether of men or of women. It is an abstract school-room 
affair. It can be handled by women teachers as effectively as by 
men teachers, — more so perhaps, since they are likely to look 
upon it with greater good-will. A man teacher famihar with the 
practical activities of the mechanical world, as such a teacher 
ought to be, is likely to be sufficiently impatient with this type of 
manual training. 

The material used for the two years of knife-work is thin 
basswood. In terms of the printed manual, "All of the articles 
made are of practical use and consist of the following : plant 
label, twine winder, puzzle, pencil sharpener, calender stand, 
pencil rack, toothpick holder, brush-broom holder, sled, box, 
salt-boxy ink-stand, picture frame, necktie rack, and book-rack." 



202 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

All of the things made are small. In only three or four cases is 
the longest dimension of the object greater than six inches. The 
sled made, for example, is only six inches long and two and a 
half inches wide. 

Drawings are made of the articles before the article is be- 
gun. It is intended that these be working drawings and that the 
pupils, after the drawings are completed, should work from the 
drawings. The intent and general relations of this plan is a good 
one since it properly relates the drawing portion of mechanical 
activities to the activities themselves. 

The work is painfully slow, careful, and expensive. It re- 
quires eight hours distributed over eight weeks to whittle from 
thin basswood a plant label five inches long and one inch wide. 
Thirty hours distributed over four months are required for mak- 
ing a match box. Twenty hours distributed over two and a half 
months are consumed in making the toy sled. It is difficult to 
believe that the drill is of the correct mechanical character for 
eleven and twelve-year-old boys when so much time must elapse 
between the beginning and the end of the process._ The work 
is evidently too slow, too painfully accurate for this particular 
stage of the boy's development, it uses materials that are too 
small, requiring work that is too fine, and it does not use the 
woodworking tools that ought to be in the hands of boys at this 
age. They ought to be in the shop at work-benches with wood- 
working tools that are very much better than knives for the 
purpose. Although the manual states that the things made are of 
practical use, it is doubtful if all of them are. Even when so, it 
is doubtful if they are made in practical ways, — that is to say, 
using processes that are of the kind that the practical man would 
use for making the things in question. And what is more, match- 
boxes and six-inch toy sleds are not things for healthy twelve- 
year-old boys. 

The present work has many values, both on the side of the 
drawing and of the practical operations. In all probability the 
results justify the expenditure of time, effort, and money. It is 
believed, however, that much larger and more justifiable results 
could be secured. We would therefore recommend that the 
present work continue until a better type can be provided; but 
no longer. 

The work of the seventh and eighth grades is. in specially 
equipped shops. The teaching is done by men teachers who have 
in all cases had practical woodworking experience in the trades. 
They are primarily practical-minded men and secondarily teach- 
ers of the practical subject. This represents sound policy which 
should obtain throughout all of the grades. 

Until recently the work in seventh and eighth grades has 



INSTRUCTION IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS 203 

been a rather formal course of the usual bench-work type in 
cabinetmaking. The course of study manual states the object: 
"The primary object of all the work in manual training is to 
assist in general education, and is not planned to be vocational 
in nature." The term "general education" needs to be reduced to 
particulars before we can know to what it actually refers. When 
so reduced to particulars, if the manual training work of these 
grades does not refer in some way to the vocational activities of 
the world in general, it is difficult to see at what it does aim. 
The work at this stage in all probability should be definitely pre- 
vocational, the purpose being twofold: (1) to give boys a 
preliminary acquaintance with the fundamentals of a large vari- 
ety of the world's occupations for seyeral justifiable reasons; 
(2) to permit the boys to try themselves out in certain prelimi- 
nary ways, in labors relating to this variety of fields, as one of 
several factors involved in choosing a vocation. 

Bench work in hand furniture-making has a place, and in a 
furniture-manufacturing city like Grand Rapids should have 
perhaps an unusually large place even though in this day of 
machine methods cabinetmaking is the art of but a very few 
highly trained specialists. But although such cabinetmaking 
should have a place, it is very doubtful indeed if so large a rela- 
tive quantity of time should be given to it during these grammar 
grades. Such a course largely fails to take care of either of the 
two purposes stated above. 

Recent tendency indicates proper and healthy development. 
Printing as a form of manual training has been introduced into 
two of the junior high schools, and in the proper grades. That 
the more recent conception within the city is that such manual- 
training activities should be prevocational in character is indi- 
cated by the fact that the course of study for printing in the 
junior high schools was prepared by a committee of practical 
printers from five of the large printing establishments of the 
city. This is excellent and represents the proper mode of draw- 
ing up courses of training for all kinds of practical activity that 
may be introduced. It should be said further that the teacher of 
printing in the Junior High School was associated with this 
committee of practical printers in drawing up the course, and 
thus provided the point of view of the educational situation. As 
other practical courses are drawn up by men familiar with con- 
ditions in the practical occupations, naturally representatives 
from the school organization should also be found upon the 
committees. 

At the Palmer School one finds a practical skilled artisan 
giving manual training in concrete construction. The boys have 



204 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPTDS, MICHIGAN 

been making fence posts, rustic flower boxes, foot scrapers, 
square and cylindrical pedestals, concrete blocks and tiles, 
benches, etc. The work is of a practical character adapted to the 
maturity of boys of this age, and should be extended as a portion 
of the manual training in all of the centers, but particularly in 
the various junior high schools. 

In this extension of the manual-training work, one finds 
also a ten-weeks course in practical sheet-metal working, and 
another ten-weeks course of forge work for grammar-grade pup- 
ils, in one of the junior high schools. These are types of work 
that properly belong in a well-built-out junior high-school manual 
training course. 

But even this is not enough. It is only a good beginning 
toward building out the prevocatlonal activities of the junior 
high school in the degree demanded by the purposes involved. 
There should also be woodworking on the side of carpentry in 
addition to the cabinetmaking. This should be of a practical 
character turning out economic products. On the educational 
side it cannot be of a proper character unless there is the respon- 
sibility for the practical accomplishment of real work. There 
should also be electrical construction consisting of elementary 
work in the construction of batteries, wiring, annunciator sys- 
tems, electric light systems, electric toasters, motor and dynamo^ 
construction, etc., etc. There should also be elementary work 
dealing with still other varieties of building materials, the mix- 
ing of mortar, the laying of bricks in simple bond, the mixing of 
paints and varnishes, the preparation of various surfaces for 
painting, painting, varnishing, finishing, tile-laying, sidewalk 
construction, etc. 

A valuable part of such a course for boys should be the 
taking apart and assembling of old machines of all sorts to find 
out how they work, and to learn the various scientific principles 
involved in the machines, and the methods of transferring and 
transforming power through the machines to the final perform- 
ing of the work. To take apart and assemble a few old auto- 
mobiles, lathes, pumps, sewing-machines, and other samples from 
the endless variety of machines accessible should be not only an 
important portion of one's practical mechanical training, but at 
the same time should be a highly important portion of one's 
training in the principles and practices of mechanical science. 

For taking care of the prevocatlonal activities of the gram- 
mar grades the city is to be commended for having adopted the 
best possible administrative arrangement for the purpose in its 
junior high schools. This brings together so large a number of 
pupils of similar ages and characteristics that it is possible to 
have a large variety of activities and yet to have classes large 



INSTRUCTION IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS 205 

enough to make this variety economically justifiable. Such a 
variety of courses cannot possibly be developed in the general 
grade buildings. They cannot afford the equipment, nor the 
space, nor the teacher-labor for so many types of activity. In 
carrying out the program recommended the city will find it 
necessary to continue its present policy of establishing the junior 
high schools until all of the children of these grades are as- 
sembled in schools of this character. Since sixty per cent of 
them are already so housed the city is in an administrative posi- 
tion to carry out the recommendations for the majority of the 
boys at the present time. 

HOUSEHOLD OCCUPATIONS 

The girls of the fifth and sixth grades are taught sewing, and 
those of the seventh and eighth grades cooking. In the final 
semester of the eighth grade they are given a further half-year of 
sewing. All of the work is taught by special teachers, who are 
in general familiar through practical experience with these two 
household occupations. 

The sewing in large part is the making or mending of gar- 
ments for themselves, and in part the making of towels, cooking 
bags, etc., for the domestic science work of the school. The 
practical purpose vitalizes the work. The writer did not ex- 
amine into the details of the sewing work, but the outline creates 
a suspicion that it may be open in some small degree to the same 
criticisms as the knife-work for the boys of these same grades. 
To expend twenty lessons of two hours each in the fifth grade 
in making a percale, gingham, or calico apron and then another 
twenty lessons of two hours each in the sixth grade in making 
a plain white percale cooking apron, — or one entire year's work 
in the making of two aprons, — ^looks like an over-elaboration of 
this task. It is doubtful, to say the least whether the schools 
are justified in making so heavy an investment in training girls 
at this immature age in fine needlework when most of the 
sewing that they will later do will be done with machines. The 
writer wishes here to pronounce no judgment; but only to point 
out to the school authorities that it represents a problem that 
should be carefully studied by specialists in the field. In the 
field of needlework girls need to be trained for the things that 
they are later going to do. There will be some sewing, patch- 
ing, mending, etc. ; but if the specialization and commercializa- 
tion of garment-making proceeds much farther, by the time the 
present generation of fifth and sixth-grade girls have reached 
womenhood their chief function in this field will be the ability to 
select wisely and with good taste garments and other articles of 



206 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

needlework. The thing needed is appreciation and understanding 
of those things involved in the finished articles, which repre- 
sent good taste, durability, adaptabihty to needs, etc., rather 
than the mechanical ability to make the things themselves. 

This changing need is pointed out by way of indicating the 
need of certain changes possibly in the courses of training. Even 
though the hand needlev/ork be left as it is, there should be a 
larger quantity of study of the things that make up different kinds 
of needlework: studies of color harmony, by having a wide as- 
sortment of garments either actual or in color picture-plates for 
study, criticism, judgment and choice: a study of the simpler 
principles of garment design, again not through the practical 
labors of designing but through the study of the particular fea- 
tures of a wide variety of garments; similar studies of trim- 
mings, edgings, embroidery ; similar studies applied to millinery ; 
also studies of napkins, tablecloths, bed and pillow coverings, 
curtains, draperies, etc., etc. The housewife's major problem 
of today is not how to make these things, but how to select 
them wisely. To do some work in the way of making them is 
undoubtedly a portion of the necessary training in appreciation 
and understanding; but it probably, or at least possibly, should 
not constitute the major portion of such training. 

In case the practical constructive training is of large value 
for taking care of the appreciation, then the question arises 
why in the needlework course there is not larger attention in the 
grammar grades to the making of the following, none of which 
seems to be included: house dress, street or school dress, nap- 
kins, handkerchiefs, pillow cases, sash curtains, table covers, 
embroidery, laces, etc. 

The cooking work of the seventh and eighth grades so far 
as it relates to activities that can be carried on within the kit- 
chen appears to be much better balanced. It covers examples 
from about every possible field of food preparation. But in ad- 
dition to the things done within the kitchen, the girls should also 
for the sake of the training, do the marketing by way of becom- 
ing acquainted with all of the marketing problems. There is 
also a need of responsibility for turning out a product that is to 
be used in normal ways. Cooking is not rightly done if it is 
merely a series of practice exercises, — even though the teacher's 
supervision and direction be of such a careful sort as to secure 
the correct material outcome for each exercise. The informa- 
tion is not rightly assimilated nor are right attitudes of mind 
developed toward the work. Illustrative of the matter was the 
situation found in one of the large buildings where the girls re- 
ceived fifty minutes of domestic science each day for five days in 



INSTRUCTION IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS 207 

the week. • In the preparation of very many kinds of dishes, they 
find it necessary to spend the time one day in the preparation 
of the things to be cooked, and then after setting them away 
in the refrigerator for twenty-four hours, on the following day 
to do the cooking. In other cases they are able to get the 
cooking half done during the fifty-minute period, but then have 
to rush away and leave it unfinished; and most half-cooked 
things are unsuitable for a continuation of the process on the 
following day. Were the girls in that building preparing actual 
meals or portions of actual meals, this wasteful and ineffective 
method of training could not continue for a single day. This 
appears to be an extreme case, it is true; but where it occurs 
shows a lack of seriousness in the work ; and this lack of serious- 
ness extends to the work of other buildings that have the double 
period, if there is no method of placing serious responsibility 
upon the girls. 

A further recommendation is the development of the science 
aspects of the work. At present these are inadequately de- 
veloped. A portion of such science work should be taken care of 
by the special teacher of elementary science in the grammar 
grades, and a portion of it by the teachers of domestic science. 
During these grades the elementary science work of the girls 
should be separate from that of the boys, taught always by 
women teachers who are thoroughly conversant with the prob- 
lems and exercises in domestic science ; and the two departments 
should be in close co-operation in the conduct of the work. 

We recommend also that in the junior high schools a cook- 
ing course of suitable type should be opened to the boys. Camp 
cooking, as it is sometimes called, is both a good and a practical 
manual-training course for boys. Such courses conducted in 
former years were successful. 



CHAPTER X 

INTRODUCTION TO HIGH- 
SCHOOL REPORT 



The following chapter presents in full the report of Professor 
C. O. Davis on the secondary schools. In addition to the obser- 
vations made by Mr. Davis, Superintendent Francis rendered a 
brief report dealing especially with the junior schools. Super- 
intendent Francis comments on the great advantage which 
Grand Rapids enjoys in the fact that the junior high school ex- 
periment is being tried out in a variety of different forms. He 
believes that this furnishes Grand Rapids with the opportunity* 
of arriving ultimately at the most advantageous form of or- 
ganization. Mr. Francis commends the organization which he 
observed so far as the personal characteristics and technical qual- 
ifications of the officers whom he encountered are concerned. He 
comments especially on the fact that the technical teachers are 
trained in the methods of the industries. He comments on the 
possibilities of a greater elaboration of the special subjects and 
greater emphasis upon the general activities of student organiza- 
tions. 

The writer also took the opportunity of visiting the high 
schools and looked especially into the organization of the junior 
college and the junior high schools. It is appropriate for him 
to add to the report of Mr. Davis certain comments with regard 
to these schools. 

In the first place, there can be no doubt, even on casual ob- 
servation, that the equipment of the Central High School is dis- 
tinctly superior to that of the other schools. Mr. Davis has 
brought out in his report the differences between the various 
schools in detail and has set forth very fully the evidence in re- 
gard to teachers and equipment. 

The School Board and the school officers may very well con- 
sider doing more to equalize high-school opportunities offered 
in the different centers and also the better standardization of all. 



INTRODUCTION TO HIGH-SCHOOL REPORT 209 

the schools. There is abundant evidence in Mr. Davis' report 
that standards of work are not alike. 

The largest credit is due the Grand Rapids System for the 
organization of junior high schools. The experiment has been 
worked out in a conservative way. The impressive fact about 
the experiment is that it was started when there was no general 
recognition of the importance of this type of organization. To- 
day it is widely recognized that the sometime break between the 
elementary school and the high school is un-American and un- 
scientific. Grand Rapids was a pioneer in closing up this breach. 

The experiment, as Professor Davis has pointed out, should 
be pushed further. The curriculum of the Junior High School 
could very advantageously be elaborated. For example, the work 
in mathematics might be modified in such a way as to introduce 
the students to the principles and problems of constructive geo- 
metry and to the simpler algebraic devices which make it rela- 
tively easy to solve many complicated problems. The equipment 
for nature study or elementary science of some sort should be 
introduced as soon as possible into the Junior High School, 
which is now obliged to utilize the equipment of the Central 
High School. 

With regard to the Junior College, it may be said that the in- 
fluence of the University of Michigan in the organization of this 
institution has been very large. The authorities of Grand Rap- 
ids have regarded it as expedient to submit all of the details of 
junior-college organization to the approval of the officers of the 
University of Michigan. These officers in turn have treated the 
experiment with much interest but have naturally been very con- 
servative. If the enterprise is to succeed, somebody must be bold 
enough to set aside conservative suspicion of the experiment. 
The present organization is shown by the present registration to 
be unworkable. The effort to segregate the college classes abso- 
lutely from the rest of the high-school organization is uneconomi- 
cal and impractical. This can be illustrated by reference to one 
example. Junior-college mathematics is analytical geometry. 
Anyone who wants college credit for mathematics must enter 
this class in analytical geometry. Some of the students have not 
had enough mathematics in their high-school course to justify 
their taking this college course. On the other hand, it is not 
thought possible at the present moment as a result of the confer- 
ences with the University of Michigan to arrange for students to 
take lower mathematics because it is the accepted theory that 
junior-college students cannot be in the same classes as high- 
school students. Thus, a student who ought to be taking' trigo- 
nometry and is quite prepared for that subject is not allowed to 



210 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

go into the class in trigonometry and secure college rcedit, be- 
cause that is a high-school class. He is introduced into the class 
in analytical geometry because he is a college student and not 
because he has had the proper preliminary training. The small 
junior-college registration makes it impossible to conduct classes 
both in trigonometry and analytics. 

Setting aside the institutional conservatism which always at- 
taches to any new organization, it seems to the present writer, 
perfectly clear that the only legitimate form of organization 
which could be developed in the Grand Rapids Junior College is 
one which allows a student to take that branch of mathematics 
for which he is equipped. This arrangement would make it possi- 
ble to utilize the opportunities presented by some of the small 
advanced high-school classes in mathematics. The character of 
the instruction would be guaranteed by the general training of the 
high-school faculty. If there is any doubt about the latter mat- 
ter or about the ability of the students who have pursued these 
courses with advanced high-school students to compare favorably 
with college students, all of the institutions concerned ought 
to be patient enough to give the matter at least a fair trial. Let 
the Junior College try the experiment for a year or so. Let the 
students who go out of the mixed classes be carefullly observed 
in their later college work. If any serious questions arise with 
regard to their ability to carry college work after receiving this 
kind of training, let the accrediting of these junior-college courses 
come to an end. The experiment in its present form cannot suc- 
ceed. It is cramped and hampered by forms of organization 
which are not natural or legitimate. To render the experiment 
absolutely safe against all possible difficulties is to render it so 
limited in its scope that it cannot be carried on. The fact that the 
student population in the Junior College has decreased this year 
as compared with last year indicates that there is something 
radically wrong. 

Another phase of the situation that deserves comment is the 
tuition requirement imposed by the Board of Education upon 
students who take junior-college work. First it may be noted 
that the present tuition does not pay the cost of instruction per 
student under the present organization. There is some doubt as 
to the legality of paying for junior-college instruction out of 
municipal educational funds. This doubt parallels the doubt 
that once existed in the state of Michigan before the famous Kala- 
rnazoo decision with regard to the legality of paying out of muni- 
cipal funds for high-school education. Some day the doubt about 
junior colleges v/ill go by the same route as did the earlier doubt 
about high-school expenditures. It will ultimately be recognized 



INTRODUCTION TO HIGH-SCHOOL REPORT 211 

in Michigan as it is now fully recognized in California, that large 
municipalities will effect for the people of the city a genuine 
economy by offering in the city itself educational advantages that 
extend beyond the high-school course. As Mr. Davis has argued 
at length, a great many students from Grand Rapids go to col- 
leges in the state of Michigan and elsewhere. For the education 
of these people the state and the city are making liberal contri- 
butions. The cost to the student of a year of college education 
in some other city is very much greater than the cost of a year 
in Grand Rapids itself. Such considerations as these ought to 
weigh very largely with the Board of Education of Grand Rapids 
in deciding whether it is an economy to offer such young people 
a junior-college education in their home city. The geographical 
conditions of California are such that the people have been con- 
vinced of the wisdom of establishing local junior high schools. 
Whether the movement comes rapidly or more slowly in the mid- 
dle states, it is certain to receive in the next few years a thorough 
trial. A number of the great municipalities in the middle states 
are undertaking this type of organization. Grand Rapids in its 
junior high-school organization and in the elaboration of its 
high schools has taken a long step in the direction of a complete 
education of its young people at public expense. The line of 
demarcation between the elementary school and the high school 
has been almost entirely erased by the organization of the junior 
high school. The reasons which justify that intermediate organ- 
ization can be applied with slight modification to the junior col- 
lege. The break between the high school and the college is just 
as disadvantageous as was the sometime breach between the 
elementary school and the high school. Grand Rapids was a 
pioneer in organizing the junior high school. It has an oppor- 
tunity, if it is willing to set aside some of the artificial restric- 
tions which now hedge in its junior college, to become one of the 
leaders in developing that institution also. It is the belief of 
the present writer that the city would greatly profit by a thor- 
oughgoing trial of the junior college. Evidence in favor of this 
move is difficult to present beyond the evidence which Mr. Davis 
has set forth in his report. Certainly the time has arrived when 
the city ought to weigh carefully the clear alternative of giving 
the junior college a fair trial or eliminating it altogether. As the 
institution stands today, it is weighed down by so many restric- 
tions that it can not be described as a flourishing institution. 



CHAPTER XI 

SECONDARY SCHOOLS 

Calvin O. Davis 



FOREWORD 

The observations, comments and recommendations included 
in the portion of the school survey immediately following deal 
with the provisions which Grand Rapids makes for secondary 
education within its public school system. This includes the 
organization and work of the junior high schools, the senior high 
schools, and the Junior College. The data upon which the de- 
ductions are based were obtained by means of questionnaires^ 
distributed to the teachers and administrative officers, analysis 
of printed material pertaining to the organization and admin- 
istration of the schools, consultations with various members of 
the administrative and teaching staffs, and eight days spent in 
actual observation and study of the several schools while in oper- 
ation. All records, printed material, and other aids which would 
in any manner throw light upon the plan and conduct of these 
divisions of the public school work were not only made available 
for perusal, but the utmost co-operation and assistance was 
rendered by every member of the school force, in order that a 
true analysis of the problems under investigation might be reach- 
ed. Moreover, the most cordial welcome was extended by teach- 
ers, principals, and other officials in visiting the several rooms 
and schools, and the most perfect freedom was encouraged in ask- 
ing questions not alone of themselves, but of the pupils and as- 
sistants under their charge. In this manner frank, full and cour- 
teous expressions of views were received from persons of varied 
interests, experiences, and official rank, and much material for a 
composite judgment was obtained. 

The present report, therefore, aims to be an unbiased analy- 
sis of the facts pertaining- to the secondary schools of Grand Rap- 
ids, (in so far as these facts were derivable from the investiga- 
tions conducted), and the criticisms, commendations and sug- 



SECONDARY SCHOOLS ' 213 

gestions offered are the product of the several mutually support- 
ing forms of knowledge that were contributed. 

The Secondary School System as a Whole. 

An investigator of the Grand Rapids public secondary school 
system finds, taking the system as a whole, much indeed to 
commend and extol. It is perfectly obvious to him that the citi- 
zens of the town have taken a keen interest in public education ; 
that they have supported, and are supporting, the public schools 
in a generous and liberal manner; that they believe in school 
progressiveness, tempered by moderate conservatism ; that they 
wish for their children the best schooling that twentieth century 
thought can provide and that a reasonable financial expenditure 
can furnish ; that they welcome an expansion and an extension of 
school work, provided only it be work that promises suitable 
returns for the investment; that they encourage the aspirations 
of their children for high intellectual, moral, and social attain- 
ments ; that they are in favor of reasonably exacting academic 
and professional standards for their teachers ; that they have put 
in charge of the school work men and women in whom they have, 
and rightly can have, confidence ; and that they are eager and 
willing to co-operate with the officials of the school in bringing 
about their educational desires. This certainly is a state of pub- 
lic interest and public responsiveness that is gratifying. More- 
over, to a very large degree, much of the school organization and 
administration in which the}^ take pride is fully worthy of their 
boasts and loyalty. 

Three separate high-school buildings and one separate junior 
high-school building operating in a city the size of Grand Rapids 
are more than will ordinarily be found. Moreover, these schools 
are, in general, well distributed geographically and well situated 
topographically. The Union school provides convenient and ap- 
propriate high-school facilities for the residents of the west side ; 
the new South school performs a like service for the citizens of 
that section; the Central High and the Junior High schools 
readily accommodate the youths of the older and more thickly 
settled portions of the city. 

It may possibly be somewhat unfortunate that the Junior 
High school building is located where it is — particularly if it is 
to be used solely for the purpose of a junior high school. The 
section in which it stands borders closely on the business dis- 
trict of the city, a district that seems to be encroaching more 
and more each year upon the adjoining residential sections. 
Moreover, the residential portion that remains is composed large- 
ly of the older families whose children have, in large numbers, al- 



214 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

ready received their education and have disappeared from the 
scenes of their childhood. The constituency, therefore, that 
maintains the present school has its geographical center consid- 
erably apart from the site of the present building. 

On the other hand, the present structure is admirably situ- 
ated and fairly well arranged to serve the entire business section 
of the city as a trade school and technical school, or a day con- 
tinuation school. Schools of this character are manifestly about 
to make articulate their demands for recognition in all prog- 
gressive school systems. Grand Rapids, considering the nature 
of her industrial and business life, will of necessity soon be forced 
to listen to this demand, if locally made, and to plan for it. There 
can be little doubt that if proper school facilities were provided, 
and proper arrangements were made with employers in the vari- 
ous stores, offices, shops, factories, and business houses of the 
city, scores, if not hundreds, of workers now employed therein 
would take advantage of the offerings and seek to improve not 
only their occupational training but their interests and powers 
relating to civic, social, and generally cultural matters. By sup- 
plementing the day continuation school work with instruction of 
a similar character offered in night classes (as at present) the 
Junior High School building can doubtlessly be made to become 
the most continuously employed school building of any in the 
city. 

It is, therefore, suggested that the Board of Education, in 
laying out its plans for the further extension of school work and 
the further construction of new buildings, take carefully into 
consideration both the need and desirability of providing some- 
where in the city a thoroughly equipped trade school or technical 
school — for both day and evening classes — and that, secondly, 
they weigh carefully the advantages that inhere in the thought 
of converting the present Junior High School building into a 
school of that sort. 

In like manner it seems probable that within a relatively 
short time additional junior high schools will be needed in one 
or more sections of the city that are at present without such 
schools. Doubtless the first new district to be thus provided 
will be the north side, although, judging from the numbers of 
pupils at present enrolled from that territory in the existing high 
schools, the necessity for additional accommodations is not 
pressing. 

Grand Rapids is also to be commended for the form in 
which it is organizing its school system. The Board of Educa- 
tion and the administrative school officers have, apparently, de- 
finitely committed themselves to the principle of the six-year 
elementary school and the six-year high school, with a junior 



SECONDARY SCHOOLS 215 

college to supplement the work at the top. In adopting this 
plan of organization the city has put itself in the van of educa- 
tional thought and practice. There is no longer any question as to 
the trend of public school organization in this country. The con- 
clusions of physiology, psychology and sociology in respect to the 
need for the adaptation of our schools to the changing stages of 
physical, mental and social development of children and youths 
are clear and certain. The theory of individual differences of 
powers and aptitudes is today fully accepted. The correlative 
theory of the need of a differentiation of the subject-matter to 
be studied and of the method of instruction to be employed in 
dealing with the several stages of human development is like- 
wise rapidly becoming an accepted pedagogical doctrine. 

And yet, while Grand Rapids has definitely subscribed to 
the more logical, more physiological, more truly democratic form 
of school organization included in the six-six plan of grade group- 
ings, she has stopped considerably short of what rightfully might 
be expected of her. The six-year high school as it is in operation 
in the city today is not fully such a school — if by the expression 
is meant (as many persons think is meant) not only a change in 
the form of school organization, but also a pretty complete modi- 
fication of the subject-matter to be taught, the methods of in 
struction used, the mode of administration employed and the 
spirit oj control and direction that dominate. While the steps 
that have been taken are all in the forward direction, the ad- 
vance has not as yet carried the schools so far toward the idea of 
the modern school as the needs of an industrial growing city 
like Grand Rapids demand or the advice of educational experts 
recommends. The most glaring faults of omission have to do 
with the curriculum and its administration. While something in- 
deed, has been done to reorganize the work of instruction, there 
is surely need for a more thorough overhauling of the entire 
program of studies — particularly of the program for the seventh, 
eighth and ninth grades. The detailed analysis of the situation 
within these grades is reserved for a later section of this report. 
What, in general, Grand Rapids needs to do, however, to improve 
her school system is to complete and perfect the organization 
and forms of administration she has so happily already, in part, 
begun. 

School administration is a dynamic force, not a static one. 
Forms and processes that serve one generation well, or that fit 
the conditions of one type of schools or one class of pupils, or 
that meet the needs of a particular set of concrete problems do 
not always constitute the wisest and most effective agencies for 
dealing with school questions arising out of situations that vary 



216 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

in respect to time and place and human factors. Indeed, quite 
the contrary is usually true. In consequence no absolutely set 
and uniform rules of procedure should operate over a large and 
complete school system like that of Grand Rapids. Instead, free 
opportunity should be given not alone for the adaptation of gen- 
eral principles to concrete situations as they arise and as the offi- 
cers in charge may judge necessary, but a constant series of edu- 
cational and administrative experiments should be authorized 
and a constant checking over of the meritorious and the disadvan- 
tageous results should take place. Such experimentation may be 
undertaken co-operatively by the several principals, or by the 
principal and the corps of teachers v^ithin a single building, or 
by individuals w^ithin the several schools. The only restraining 
force that should operate in any given case should be that of 
balanced reason. Once an individual has been selected to take 
charge of a given piece of w^ork his powers of free execution 
should be commensurate v^^ith his responsibility. Happily, this 
principle is one that is generally accepted by the officers of the 
school system in Grand Rapids, and is in pretty complete opera- 
tion at present. 

Few cities, it would seem, are more fortunately circum- 
stanced than Grand Rapids to carry on a valuable series of ex-, 
periments respecting the best form in which to organize the work 
of secondary education, to test practices in the light of results, 
and to select finally a plan that will give the maximum points 
of advantage with the minimum points of disadvantage. Inci- 
dentally, the city has an opportunity to make real history for 
herself and to contribute notably to the cause of educational 
administration in general. 

The point about which revolves today a vast amount of un- 
proven and diametrically opposed theory of educational organi- 
zation is that which concerns the wisest external arrangement to 
be employed in fashioning the school work. The physically arti- 
culated six-six plan, the segregated six-six plan, the segregated 
six-three-three plan all have their pronounced advocates. No one, 
however, positively knows which type of organization will yield 
the best returns. Grand Rapids, therefore, with one school that 
houses all grades from one to twelve, one that includes (or will 
include when fully developed) the upper six grades only, one that 
segregates the seventh, eighth and ninth grades by themselves, 
and one that perpetuates, temporarily and in part, the old four- 
year high-school arrangement, but which is designed ultimately 
to house only the upper grades of the high school — the tenth, 
eleventh and twelfth grades, with possibly the junior college 
grades — with a situation of this kind actually existing and with 
each school serving its constituency reasonably well, it would 



SECONDARY SCHOOLS 217 

seem to be the part of wisdom and of progressiveness to encour- 
age each principal,^ in co-operation with the superintendent and 
the board of principals, to exercise wide discretionary powers 
in the external organization and conduct of his building. Pre- 
cisely what forms of experimentation such freedom should take in 
each building will be discussed later. 

Grand Rapids may well feel proud of the two new high- 
school buildings she possesses — the Central High and the South 
High. They both measure up well to the standards of modern 
school buildings. The new addition to the Union High is also 
fully in keeping with the ideals of modern school architecture. 
As soon as the old central portion of this school is demolished and 
the sections planned to contain the auditorium, gymnasium, of- 
fices and addtional class rooms are completed, this building will 
be not one whit inferior to any of the other buildings. It is a 
wise move that the Board has made to complete this building 
at a very early date. It is exceptionally wise that land lying with- 
in close proximity to the school has already been purchased and 
is to be equipped for an athletic field. 

The Junior High School building is the oldest and least 
hygienic and commodious of any in the city. Here material 
changes are needed and needed badly. Not only is the building 
extremely overcrowded, but under the present conditions, much 
of the w^ork is seriously handicapped. The school architect 
should be asked to investigate the entire situation at once, with 
a view to relieving such over-crowded conditions as can be re- 
lieved, and with the view further of improving unhygienic con- 
ditions wherever possible. 

There is no question that some of the urgent needs for 
this building are a gymnasium, an auditorium, enlarged facilities 
for manual training and domestic science work, a conservatory 
and museum suited to the work of nature study and elementary 
science, music rooms, rest rooms for both teachers and pupils, 
and a magazine and reading room. The Board has provided 
amply for all these essential school aids in the several other build- 
ings. Equity would seem to call for them here also. It is, more- 
over, a serious question whether boys and girls of the junior high- 
school age do not require these agencies for their best develop- 
ment even more than do the youths of an older age. The period 
of greatest school mortality lies between the fifth and the ninth 
grades. No doubt many causes enter into the explanation of this 
fact, but among these surely is the too common one of adminis- 
trative indifference to the peculiar interests and needs of late pre- 
adolescence. The kindergartners and primary grade pupils be- 
low, and the high-school pupils above, have their especial inter- 



218 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

ests considered and ministered unto, but too frequently the in- 
termediate school pupil is an institutional outcast — anything that 
nobody else wishes is thought good enough for him. His case 
is not infrequently disposed of on the theory that he is not sensi- 
tive to the niceties of physical, social, aesthetic, and educational 
forms and that therefore he does not resent the real, though co- 
vert, slight that is accorded his nature. 

No greater mistake can be made in dealing with pre-adoles- 
cence. Precisely this sort of belief has driven America to the pre- 
sent demand for a reorganization of our school system on some 
other basis than the old stereotyped, wasteful, discouraging 
system of tradition. While Grand Rapids, as already has been 
said, has advanced far on the road of educational progress, she 
still has provided less generously for the youths of junior high- 
school age — and especially for the abnormal or the peculiarly 
individualistic youths of that age — than for any other class of 
secondary school pupils. 

During the present semester (February-June 1916) for ex- 
ample, twenty-five boys from the Junior High School are required 
to go each day to the Central building in order to secure the man- 
ual training work that is desired and is prescribed. The loss in 
time going and coming is something, but much more serious is' 
the interference such absences make with the smooth adjustment 
of the class schedules in the Junior High School the hour pre- 
ceeding and the hour following the class exercise at the Central 
building. Moreover, the real necessity for these interruptions 
does not exist. There is ample room on the site of the present 
Junior High school for an addition to the manual training shops. 
Indeed, such an addition was contemplated and expressly provid- 
ed for in the original plan of the Board of Education. Why delay 
in carrying out the original scheme is continued is not apparent. 

In like manner the Junior High School is handicapped for 
want of an auditorium that will accommodate the entire school — 
or even a fair portion of it — in assembly exercises, school enter- 
tainments, and other school gatherings. The auditorium period 
is recognized by all educators as possessing opportunities for 
establishing social ideals, moral impressions, and an esprit de 
corps that no other form of school work can provide. The class- 
room influences not infrequently soon pass into the rearm of un- 
traced oblivion. Not so, however, the lessons vividly stamped 
on youthful souls in the gatherings of the entire school — gath- 
erings in which participation by pupils is encouraged, and mes- 
sages from men and by agencies outside the regular school sys- 
tem are offered. The daily auditorium lesson is one of the much 
vaunted features of the Gary plan, and the values claimed for it 



SECONDARY SCHOOLS 219 

are not overstated, provided the period be properly utilized and 
directed. If the school is truly to serve as the socializing agency 
of democracy, then indeed must adequate provision be made for 
the free and wholesome commingling of pupils in natural ways, 
and for the development among them of common social ideals, 
attitudes, and modes of procedure. Through the instrumentality 
of the stereopticon, the moving-picture, the victrola and the 
various agencies the pupils themselves develop within the school, 
invaluable supplementary educational training is secured. The 
Board of Education can do nothing more serviceable than to 
build and equip an addition to the present building expressly for 
auditorium purposes. 

The third deficiency in respect to the Junior High School 
building is the wholly inadequate — not to say, impossible — facil- 
ities provided for physical training, gymnastic work, and physical 
recreation. The room at present used for physical education is 
small, ill-ventilated, and poorly adapted for such purposes. De- 
spite these facts one has only to observe the work of this depart- 
ment to be convinced of the eagerness with which all classes of 
students turn towards it and of the physical and moral benefits to 
be derived therefrom. The state law, moreover, makes it obliga- 
tory on every city of 10,000 inhabitants to provide appropriate 
physical training for all its pupils. Grand Rapids could not, there- 
fore, if it would, legally neglect this side of the school work — and 
it certainly does not want to do so. Improved facilities, however, 
are almost imperative. It would, moreover, be a relatively simple 
matter to add to the present building a section that should give 
both the proper arrangement for auditorium exercises and for 
gymnastic work and physical training, together with the indis- 
pensable bathing facilities which the twentieth century demands 
— lockers, showers, tubs, and swimming pools. An arrangement 
copied, for example, somewhat after the plan employed at the 
South High School would be feasible and practicable. 

An alternative possibility (though of much less merit) ^ in 
improving the material situation in this school and in relieving 
over-crowded conditions, is that of removing from the building 
all existing general administrative school offices, the remodelling 
of the rooms thus vacated, and the rearrangement of doors, win- 
dows and hallways leading thereto. This plan, however, recom- 
mends itself solely on the score of immediate economy. To fol- 
low it would produce a make-shift of an improvement at best. 
Much wiser, seemingly, is the idea of doing the job correctly 
when it is done, and having no regrets. Continuous repairing 
is sometimes false economy. 

The matter of bettering the lighting facilities is a more 



220 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

difficult one to handle. No doubt, however, a decided improve- 
ment in this respect can be suggested by the school architect, 
provided he is given ''free hand so to do." 

The material changes in the Junior High School building are 
needed at present to meet the wants of the Junior High School 
pupils. If, moreover, the Board shall act upon the suggestion 
already made, namely, ultimately to convert the entire building 
into a trade school catering to the demands of industry and com- 
merce and providing an extensive vocational education for the 
growing numbers of adolescents and adults who are looking to 
the public schools to furnish them the kind of training they 
find most necessary and beneficial to them, then an even more 
forceful reason is at hand for enlarging the material facilities and 
the scope of the school work to be included in this building. 

In considering, therefore, the accommodations for which the 
several schools of the city must make provision, the following 
items taken from the enrollment figures for the last six years are 
illuminating : 

TABLE XXXII 
Enrollment in Grand Rapids Schools — 1910-1915. 

Year 

1910 

1911 

1912 ... 

1913 

1914 _ 

1915 

In view of the facts here presented — facts which show con- 
clusively that the enrollment in the grammar and high schools is 
constantly increasing and that the citizens are apparently both 
willing and desirous of providing enlarged and enriched facilities 
for their young people, and in view of the further fact that a re- 
cently enacted state law has extended the age of compulsory edu- 
cation to sixteen and has limited the hours of labor and the kinds 
of employment in which youths may be legally engaged at any 
time — in view of these facts it seems reasonable to expect that 
larger and larger numbers of young people will be retained in. the 
schools each succeeding year in the future. Coupled with these 
conditions is the almost universal agitation for a more complete, 
systematic education for all members of society irrespective of 
age, interest and life vocation — an agitation which seems destined 
to augment greatly both the members for whom schooling must 
be provided and also the variety of courses that must be organiz- 
ed to meet their needs. 

Such conditions will surely make it imperative that addi- 



Enrollment 


in 


En 


rollnient in 


Grammer Grades 


High Schools 


5013 






1813 


5099 






1844 


5206 






1896 


5535 






1979 


5763 






2107 
2325 



SECONDARY SCHOOLS 221 

tional school buildings, increased school equipment, varied and 
enriched programs of study and curricula (particularly on the 
side of the practical or quasi-vocational subjects), and an en- 
larged teaching staff shall be planned for the future — even the im- 
mediate future — and that steps shall be taken so to distribute the 
inevitable augmentation of the school budget, incident to the ex- 
pansion and development of the school system, so that it shall 
not bear w^ith undue weight upon the taxpayers at any one period 
of time. It seems, therefore, highly desirable that the Board of 
Education should adopt a constructive, far-sighted building poli- 
cy at once, — a policy that shall provide immediately for such 
pressing needs as are clearly and distinctly apparent and for such 
expenditures each year in the future as exigencies may require 
and equity permit. 

The policy of allowing each principal considerable freedom 
in working out with his corps of teachers the program of reci- 
tations for his school is in accordance with common practice 
elsewhere. The freedom to determine the length of the recita- 
tion period, and incidentally the length of the school day, is 
less usual, but can be defended in logic. At the Union School 
recitation periods are forty-seven minutes in length ; at the Junior 
High they are fifty minutes (having been reduced from sixty 
minutes this semester) ; and at the Central High and the South 
High all periods — recitation, laboratory and shop — are sixty min- 
utes long. In all these schools, except the Union high, a portion 
of each period devoted to academic subjects is nominally given 
over to supervised or directed study of the newly assigned les- 
son. Theoretically this arrangement has the sanction of twen- 
tieth century pedagogy; actully it is questionable whether the 
arrangement is wisest. The sixty-minute class period certainly 
lends itself to easy administrative manipulation. Double periods 
arranged only for laboratory work once or twice per week, for 
shop work, for much of the commercial work and work in art 
are the worry of the program maker. Where the practice pre- 
vails it is almost impossible to devise class schedules for all pu- 
pils and to make them workable without inconvenience and an- 
noyance. Moreover, where double periods are in efi:ect there not 
infrequently is considerable dawdling and sheer waste of time 
on the part of many pupils, particularly at the beginning and end 
of the period. Where the sixty-minute period is in vogue pupils 
and teachers alike "speed up" and accomplish approximately the 
same amount of work as in the longer double period, and do it 
qualitatively as well. It is probable also that the fatigue point 
is not approximated nearly so often under the hour system as 
under the double period system, for the preventative of fatigue is 



222 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

change. Certain it is that wherever the single period of sixty- 
minutes was observed in operation in Grand Rapids in connection 
with shop, laboratory and other practical work, naught but good 
impressions were left upon the observer. 

The sixty-minute recitation study period is, however, some- 
thing entirely different from the sixty-minute period devoted to 
manual manipulation. Many European countries, it is true, have 
for years past employed this unit for class recitations even for 
the lowest elementary school grades, and have seemed to be 
thoroughly satisfied with it. In general a part of the hour is 
given over frankly to relaxation. Furthermore the European 
school recitations is quite different in character from the 
ordinary one in America. There teacher and pupils devote 
the hour, quite generally, to a co-operative development of the 
topic under consideration. Text-books are few. Oral exposi- 
tion by the teacher and concerted thinking by both teachers and 
pupils are the rule. There is, in consequence, little need for in- 
dependent study when the class period is over. The entire period 
is in itself a study period — only such additional effort on the part 
of the pupils being put forth as will organize, clarify, and inten- 
sify the impressions already made. In Europe the teachers are 
expected to teach, not hear classes recite. 

Some teachers in the Grand Rapids high schools are capable 
of using the sixty-minute class periods in the profitable European 
manner, and do so. Most of them, however, do not so employ it, 
and it is doubtful if all could profitably do so, if given a free 
hand. Nevertheless, the so-called supervised study periods of ten 
or fifteen minutes as now employed in Grand Rapids do not in 
many instances seem to be justifying themselves. In only one in- 
stance in visiting the several schools was there observed any pre- 
tence at actual supervision of study. Moreover, teachers frank- 
ly acknowledged that they did not attempt to do so except oc- 
casionally. When the formal recitation period was past, pupils 
did, of course, open their books, and went through the form of 
studying the next day's assignment. In most instances, however, 
it was a perfunctory, performance, and must necessarily have 
been so, as the limit of time did not permit much more than a be- 
ginning of effort. In the meantime, teachers busied themselves 
at their desks, looked over papers, perused the next period's les- 
son, or attended to routine matters. The only form of supervi- 
sion that was carried on was to keep order, and some did not 
succeed well at that. Moreover, the suspicion was constantly 
arising in the mind of the observer that pupils who did devote 
themselves seriously to the task were frequently doing so on the 
supposition that the few minutes there given to the work would 



SECONDARY SCHOOLS 223 

be all that would be necessary and all that would be demanded 
by the teacher. Hence, instead of encouraging concentration 
of effort for protracted intervals and a fair mastery of the lesson 
assignment, pupils were certainly placed in danger of developing 
habits of hurried, superficial, slip-shod modes of study. 

The criticisms directed to supervised study as it seemingly 
is erroneously styled and carried on in Grand Rapids, do not, 
however, condemn the entire scheme of sixty-minute periods. 
The administrative advantages alone will make its retention de- 
sirable. But a modification of the manner of using the hour 
surely is needed. The formal processes of learning or of study- 
ing are not so numerous nor so different among the several 
subjects or the several phases of the same subject as to make 
necessary the constant personal help of teachers for each individ- 
ual. Once the pupil has learned to concentrate, to analyze the 
problem set before him, to apply his past knowledge to new situ- 
ations, little more is needed or desirable on the part of the teacher 
than to allow him to exercise his powers. The art of economical 
effective study is a rare one even for adults, but the art of teach- 
ing others how best to study each particular lesson is a still 
more uncommon one. The danger lies in suggesting too much 
or too little, in carrying most of the burden for the pupil or in 
carrying none. 

In view of the weaknesses apparent in the administration of 
the scheme as it is, it seems wiser that the sixty-minute class per- 
iod be stripped of its positive requirements of supervised study 
each hour for a stated definite number of minutes and that in 
lieu thereof teachers be given freedom to employ the entire 
period for common class activities. The two most serious faults 
to be found among American teachers — faults observable not in- 
frequently in Grand Rapids — are the failure to knit the entire 
mass of the day's thought material into a compact unity before 
dismissing it from mind, and, second, the failure to make the new 
lesson assignment clear, definite, and truly vital. Classroom reci- 
tations and discussions are necessarily fragmentary, disjointed 
and unsystematized. It is, however, the chief function of the 
teacher to bring order and permanency of form out of the chaos 
of impressions, ideas, and responses. In the ideal recitation 
period each pupil contributes his quota of knowledge, sugges- 
tion, interpretation, opinion, and thought, and shares with his 
fellows and with the teacher the responsibility of developmg the 
topic that is before them — of clarifying the problem that is in- 
volved and of advancing it steadily to the point of solution. It 
is the business of the teacher not only to guide and direct the 
class activities, but also to supplement, illustrate, expound, and. 



224 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

above all else, to unify. Hence the need for systematic summar- 
izing of accomplishments in each class period is apparent. 

In like manner, ample time should be taken for assigning 
the new lesson. How many minutes should be devoted to this 
part of the work the particular circumstances of the hour must 
determine. Rarely, however, is enough time or attention given 
to the task. Moreover, it is certain that the greater the thought 
and care that are employed in this manner, the less labored and 
more satisfactory will be the recitation work which follows later. 
Vague, generalized, formal assignments of lessons stamp the 
teacher as inefficient more positively, perhaps, than any other 
one test of merit. Yet the fault is fairly common among all 
teachers. Instead of imitating the successful business man who 
advertises his goods, makes his show windows attractive, and 
draws custom by the sheer force of stimulated curiosity, teachers 
are prone to let the material for study lie embedded in dull text- 
books, unmarked by any distinguishing placard, and undiscover- 
able except as blind chance leads the pupil to begin scratching 
the surface about it. In consequence of this unpedagogical mode 
of procedure pupils not infrequently come away from classes with 
little notion of what the real problem is which is set them, where- 
in lie the most significant aspects of it, what difficulties of attack 
beset them, and how they should most effectively proceed to 
master the work. The result is unintelligent effort, waste of time, 
and moral discouragement on the part of many pupils. A further 
result is failure to comprehend the thought in class the following 
day, lack of responsiveness, irritation with the teacher, growing 
dislike for, and indifference to, school work in general, and finally 
withdrawal from further attempts at any systematic education. 
It is certain that pupils frequently have failed to meet the stand- 
ards because they have not known clearly what was expected of 
them, nor how to proceed to the undertaking. No pattern was 
set before them, no device for whetting the interest was em- 
ployed with them, no motive for exerting their best efforts was 
instilled into them. They merely failed in their tasks because 
others who were supposed to know what was best to do had 
failed in their tasks. 

The above reflections are given not with the intent of con- 
demning any teacher in the Grand Rapids school system, but to 
emphasize the great need of stressing each day both the processes 
of unifying and of summarizing- what already has been studied 
and discussed in class and the necessity of opening vistas through 
the mass of new material presented and of motivizing the react- 
ions that are desired. Many teachers do these two things even un- 
der the present organization of the school work, but it seems rea- 



SECONDARY SCHOOLS 225 

sonable to suppose that, if the brief study periods attached to each 
recitation hour were eliminated or improved, and if sympathetic 
supervision of the teachers is given (as at present) by principals 
and heads of departments, that a more uniform and satisfactory 
observance of these pedagogical practices would result. In place, 
then, of the brief, broken and, for the most part, unsupervised (i.e. 
unassisted) study periods following each recitation, two or three 
such periods of full 60 minutes each may well be substituted in 
the schedule of work for each pupil. It surely would be more econ- 
omical to employ a study-hall teacher who can simultaneously 
take charge of two hundred pupils, if need be, than for each teach- 
er in the system to devote one-fourth of her time to the task, 
particularly when the additional time may be profitably used for 
class teaching. Moreover, unless the several fifteen-minute study 
periods that are at present provided can readily be increased to 
double or triple their length by means of the double recitation 
period arrangement for all classes, better results, academically 
considered, can surely be expected by making the change. 

The sixty-minute class periods and the general organization 
and administration of the several high schools resulting there- 
from are also making for a desirable modification in the length 
of the school day. If the ideal be accepted that the public schools 
shall, as far as possible, not only prepare pupils for the conven- 
tionalities, relationships and activities, of the business and social 
life of the times, but shall also be so organized that they epi- 
tomize the world of adult life, then it follows that the habits 
of thought and of action demanded by the world of afifairs shall 
be implanted and developed in the institution selected by society 
for that purpose, namely the school. With business and indus- 
try rapidly being organized on the basis of an eight-hour laboring 
day, it surely seems anachronous to organize the school work 
on the basis of a much shorter working day. Not that any teach- 
er nor any pupil should be expected to devote the entire eight 
hours to exacting, uninterrupted, intellectual application. Pre- 
cisely at this point lies the danger of the proposed change, and 
it should be frankly recognized and avoided. The drain upon the 
physical and mental energy of a truly live enthusiastic teacher is 
unappreciated by any save those who have experienced the work. 
Five hours in the aggregate should surely constitute the maxi- 
mum daily assignment for any person, two hours of shop, labora- 
tory and supervising activities being considered the equivalent 
to one hour of purely classroom work. 

In like manner, pupils who carry five subjects requiring ex- 
tensive study and preparation outside the class period should be 
forbidden to elect additional work of a similar character. But 



226 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

by arranging and administering the courses in physical training, 
art, music, and the industrial and commercial subjects so as to 
bring change and variety into the daily program, by distributing 
the periods of recitation, study, recreation, assembly meetings 
and manual activities, for both teachers and pupils, so that the 
fatigue point is not reached in any type of work, an eight-hour 
school day can not only be made possible but feasible and de- 
sirable. The officials of the school are earnestly advised to con- 
sider the inauguration of the plan. 

Just as a longer school day seems about to be accepted as an 
established policy in educational administration, so likewise an 
increase in the length of the school year is being made in many 
cities and towns in the land. Hitherto the added portions have 
not, it is true, been considered an integral part of the regular aca- 
demic year, but have been attached as auxiliary or supplementary 
work during the summer vacation. There is, however, much 
supporting evidence that the hour is at hand when the more pro- 
gressive school authorities are about to organize all public edu- 
cation on the basis of a continuous twelve-month course. The 
advantages of an arrangement of this kind are so obvious that it 
is truly strange the plan has not been adopted long before the pre- 
sent date. Just as the proposal for a longer school day does not 
contemplate that teachers or pupils shall be driven any more 
urgently or be burdened with heavier tasks than at present, but 
merely that a greater degree of flexibility of administration shall 
be secured for all and that the sum total of effort shall be dis- 
tributed throughout a longer period, so likewise the longer school 
year aims in no manner to impose uncompensated additional 
tasks upon either those who are teaching or those who are being 
taught. In all probability, a four-term arrangement of twelve 
weeks per term will appropriately be substituted for the pre- 
sent scheme of two semesters of eighteen or twenty weeks each. 
For those whose physical and mental strength and interest make 
it practicable and safe to remain in school throughout the four 
terms, opportunity will be provided ; for those who may desire or 
require a term's vacation annually, biennially, or less often, 
arrangements precisely as at present can be made. 

When consideration is given to the facts that for many 
pupils both of secondary and elementary school age the long 
summer vacation is both unneeded, if not positively detrimental, 
whether viewed from the standpoint of physical health, mental 
energy, or moral development ; that the present school law in 
Michigan absolutely forbids any one under the age of fifteen 
engaging in lucrative work even during the summer vacation 
period, and hence makes these months loafing times for many a 



SECONDARY SCHOOLS 227 

boy and girl ; that pupils who have been forced to be out of school 
for considerable portions of time during the regular year and 
who have consequently failed to pass in some part of their school 
work, can find no better agency than the vacation school to help 
them gain standing again ; that ambitious pupils of robust health 
can easily gain sufficient additional credits in the vacation school 
to enable them to shorten their high-school course, often by one 
entire year ; that pupils who find difficulty in carrying successful- 
ly the customary four units of work per year, may, by pursuing 
only three subjects simultaneously in the regular year and sup- 
plementing these by work in the vacation school, still maintain 
their full class standings ; that many pupils have, in cities in 
Avhich vacation schools have been maintained, voluntarily and 
eagerly enrolled for the work, partly, no doubt, because of the op- 
portunities provided therein for social, recreational, and athletic 
intercourse, as well as partly for the sake of the personal academic 
advantages to be derived ; that many teachers welcome the chance 
to increase their annual income through engaging in vacation 
school work; and that the continuous employment of school 
buildings is vastly more economical to the taxpayers than to 
have them closed for two or three months — consideration of these 
facts, involving, as they do, numerous advantages both social and 
personal for the city, certainly argue strongly for the establish- 
ment of vacation schools in a city situated and populated as is 
Grand Rapids. If it seems to the Board of Education not feasi- 
ble at the outset to make such schools an integral part of the 
regular school year, the establishment of them as supplementary 
undertakings is thoroughly Justifiable and highly commendable. 
The recommendation is, therefore, earnestly made that provision 
for high-school work (as well as elementary-school work) be 
made during the summer vacation months for the children and 
youths of Grand Rapids. The further recommendation is made 
that morning sessions only be held, thus preserving to pupils a 
daily half holiday and freeing them from forced application dur- 
ing the portions of the days most apt to be sultry and hot. A 
still additional recommendation is that the recreation facilities 
of the schools — particularly the outdoor facilities such as the 
athletic fields and play grounds — and the shower baths be made 
as available to the youths and adult residents of the city in vaca- 
tion time as during any other period of the year. 

One further phase of the general educational situation found 
in Grand Rapids calls for brief comment, but comment by way 
of commendation only rather than by way of critical suggestions. 
This pertains to the spirit of co-operation and the plan for mutual 
constructive study, by the several high-schooh principals, of the 



228 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

entire administrative problems relating to secondary education 
in the city. The principals' meetings, wherein are threshed over 
and w^innowed the w^heat and the chaff of business incident to the 
conduct of the schools, not only largely explains the harmony 
that, in general, characterizes the work of all the administrators, 
but bespeaks for the future continued growth in the efffciency of 
the schools, obtained (as it should be obtained) under conditions 
varying with each school and each principal, but natural and ap- 
propriate to each separate organization. 

In like manner the several types of associations or teachers 
organizations within the several buildings are highly commend- 
able, — the faculty meetings, the departmental staff meetings, the 
meetings of heads of departments. All these indicate that self- 
analysis and self-improvement (so far as the school as an institu- 
tion is concerned) are dominating characteristics of the officers 
and teachers throughout the secondary school system, and that 
the efficiency and work of the schools, as a whole, are their im- 
pelling thoughts. 

Finally the type of printed bulletins, reports, courses of study 
and other matter designed to make significant to patrons and 
pupils the purposes, organization, and work of the schools is of 
the best. Clear, brief, intelligible are words that characterize 
them all — the Superintendent's Annual Report, the bulletins of 
information, the records, cards and similar material. 

The Junior High Schools. 

Grand Rapids is at present in the midst of a transition period 
in school organization. Although the work of the seventh and 
eighth grades is still provided in numerous ward or elementary- 
school buildings, much of it has been taken away from its tradi- 
tional settings and is being organized under the form and the 
name of secondary education. A portion of the work thus trans- 
ferred is being combined with the work of the ninth grade and is 
being offered in a building separate and distinct from all other 
school work. This building is styled the Junior High School. 
The remainder of the work thus removed from the ward buildings 
is not so completely segregated from the upper grades but never- 
theless is sufficiently isolated to warrant treating it as part of the 
junior high school. It is therefore the purpose of this section 
of the survey to deal with the work of the seventh, eighth and 
ninth grades wherever they are apart from the six lower grades 
of the school system, and the expression "junior high schools" 
has been selected to include all such separate forms of organiza- 
tion. 

As thus described, the junior high-school organization in 



SECONDARY SCHOOLS 229 

Grand Rapids is certainly justifying itself. The fact that within 
five years the enrollment in one school — the segregated junior 
high school — has increased from 435 pupils and a teaching force 
of 13 teachers in September 1911 to an enrollment of over 800 
pupils and a teaching stafif of 33 in April, 1916, is highly signifi- 
cant. Moreover, when the further fact is noted that a very large 
per cent of the increase in numbers since 1911 consists of boys, 
the evidence is strong that the junior high-school org^anization is 
accomplishing one of the greatest services schools are designed to 
accomplish, namely, making education so attractive and con- 
sciously beneficial that youths will continue in the schools for as 
long a period of time as their physical strength, mental capacities 
and economic resources will permit. 

The statistics pertaining to the other two schools in which 
the seventh and eighth grades are organized as junior high-school 
grades tend to bear out the same conclusions. The increased at- 
tendance at the Union School and the South School has been al- 
most phenomenal. At the Union School, too, the number of boys 
exceeds the number of girls and has done so for the last few years. 
Even in the graduating class this fact holds true, there being in 
the graduating class of 1916 eighty-one pupils, of whom forty-five 
are boys and thirty-six are girls. 

In variety and range of the subject-matter offered in the 
junior high-school grades, a notable advantage over the undif- 
ferentiated elementary-school work is secured. Here many 
types of interests are taken into account — academic, manual 
training, domestc science, artistic and commercial. As the schools 
continue to develop, additional forms of work or at least more 
differentiated courses of the work at present ofifered, will doubt- 
less be provided. 

Yet in the face of the facts that the organization of the work 
of the junior high schools is considerably different from the 
traditional forms in which seventh and eighth-grade work has 
been cast, still some strange, almost anomalous, conditions are 
met with here. The conviction is deep and strong that while the 
ideal of a thoroughly reorganized, modernized, psychologized 
school has been sought in modifying the work of the seventh, 
eighth and ninth grades, many of the elements and characteristics 
that seem to be absolute essentials to a completely formulated 
junior high school are either lacking entirely or else have been 
put into operation in a very inconspicuous manner. A vision of 
the ''school of tomorrow" has undoubtedly been had by the au- 
thorities and administrators of public education in Grand Rapids, 
but it is equally clear that many old-time traditional forms and 
practices (some of which are educationally questionable, others 



230 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

of which are educationally obsolete) are holding tenaciously in 
administrative procedure. What is distinctively needed, there- 
fore, in the junior high-school w^ork in Grand Rapids, is an effort 
to carry through to completion the reforms that have already 
been so wq\\ begun. 

In particular, it is very certain that there is not in operation 
in the junior high schools the degree of administrative flexibility 
that the democratic ideal of the twentieth century extols, nor that 
the economic, industrial and social conditions of Grand Rapids 
require. Especially is this noticeable in reference to those pupils 
who belong to the group of the intellectually slow or non-literary 
people and to those whose educational careers are in all probabil- 
ity to be terminated at a relatively early date. In other words, 
whatever flexibility is provided operates to the greatest advan- 
tage of those who need it least, for those whose school courses 
are projected some distance into the future and who are definitely 
planning them, albeit there is also some need in Grand Rapids 
for more careful attention to the interests of the supernormal pu- 
pils. 

The dominant idea that underlies the reorganization of the 
seventh and eighth grades of tradition is that of providing differ- 
entiated school work to meet the peculiar needs of the differ- 
entiated individuality that characterizes the age of early adoles- 
escence, and not, as heretofore, to prescribe the same cultural 
elements for all ahke. In other words, the true purpose of the 
junior high school is to furnish a testing-place and a testing-time 
wherein each boy and girl may be led to discover for himself 
or herself the really dominant and abiding elements of his or her 
personal strength, and, once having found these sources of happi- 
ness and service, to be assisted in developing them to the fullest 
possible degree which time and circumstances will permit. The 
junior high school, under this view, is therefore a school which 
aims to serve the needs of youths while they are passing through 
the transition stage of rather complete school dependence to 
rather complete school independence. It seeks to close the gap 
that heretofore has yawned between the elementary school and 
the high school, and it seeks to do this by providing a three-year 
period in which gradually to make the adjustments necessitated 
by the changes in subject-matter, methods, and administration 
that are incident to the change in schools. The new ideal con- 
templates a rather complete modification of the traditional pro- 
gram of studies, the organization of differentiated curricula, 
some freedom of choice by the pupils of the subject-matter to be 
studied, provision for the differentiation of work among differ- 
ent class sections pursuing the same subject, comparative ease of 



SECONDARY SCHOOLS 231 

transition from one course to another, much attention to individ- 
ual aptitudes and individual limitations, and emphasis upon gen- 
eral principles of knowledge concretely developed rather than 
upon isolated elementary facts, on the one hand, or abstract, 
specialized knowledge, on the other. The junior high schools in 
Grand Rapids, as already implied, meet these standards only in 
part. The detailed analysis that follow seek to justify this con- 
tention. 

Consider first the subject of English. Most leaders of 
thought dealing with the teaching of the vernacular language and 
literature are a unit in the belief that detailed and exhaustive 
courses in formal English grammar — particularly during the 
early years of school life — are a waste of much precious time for 
both teachers and pupils alike, discouraging and distasteful re- 
quirements for many types of youths, and to a large degree fail- 
ures in effecting the ends for which they are designed and pre- 
sented. The true aim of the teaching of English in the junior high 
school, as elsewhere in the school system, is to develop the power 
of clear, forceful, facile, and pleasing expression of thought, both 
oral and written; to stimulate the taste for good literature and 
the power to interpret it fairly when read ; and to give a know- 
ledge of worthy masterpieces in literature and the power to dis- 
criminate wisely among the mass of contemporary writings of 
our own day. It is doubtful if formal grammar serves as the best 
means for developing the ideals that are sought in the work of 
English, particularly when taught as an isolated subject consid- 
erably apart from its concrete connection with daily human 
expression and current readings. As presented by many teach- 
ers, it is treated as an end in itself, not as a means to a more 
noteworthy end. The true way to acquire habits of correct oral 
and written speech and the power to analyze the thought of lit- 
erary selections is by speaking, writing and analyzing repeatedly 
and doing so under the stress of current needs or real motives, 
not in a formal, abstract manner under circumstances that are 
artificial and forced. In like manner the way to develop refined 
taste and true appreciation of literature is by the repeated study 
of works of literary merit, following always however the univer- 
sally accepted pedagogical law of proceeding slowly and grad- 
ually from the child's immediate interests to the interests of 
more mature life, and providing constantly for variety of form 
and subject-matter in the studies that are presented. 

Although in the junior high-school work in Grand Rapids 
these ideals and maxims are acknowledged in theory, they are not 
actually put into operation in practices so fully as seems desir- 
able. Throughout the seventh and eighth grades formal English 



232 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

grammar is prescribed for every pupil, except indeed, the few 
whose linguistic attainments have been sufficiently satisfactory 
to permit them to be enrolled in courses in Latin or German. 
Even then, however, fifty per cent of the time allotment is ex- 
pected to be used for work in English grammar. Except at the 
South High School, every pupil of the seventh and eighth grades, 
whether possessed of literary interests or not, whether his stay 
in school is destined to be brief or prolonged, is required to devote 
five periods per week to grammar coupled with composition 
work and work of oral expression. In addition, except at the 
South High School, supplementary work to the extent of three, 
four or five periods per week are prescribed for reading, spelling, 
and writing, in the ratios of 3:1:1. Approximately eight or ten 
periods, therefore, of the usual allotment of twenty-five (except 
at the South High School) are taken up with what may be styled 
work in English. 

Much of the teaching of grammar that was observed was 
good, and pupil responses not infrequently were highly credit- 
able. Nevertheless, for many students, it was evident that the 
subject was of little interest and of doubtful profit. They pursued 
it because they were forced to pursue it, but evinced a spirit that 
betokened a withdrawal from school as soon as the power of the 
compulsory school law was lifted. In like manner, much of the 
"Reading" was truly a study of literature for its content value, 
but in as many instances the aim seemed to be to stress form and 
fluency only — and even this was not well done in some of the 
classrooms visited. Moreover, there was little freedom accorded 
the teacher in the selection of the material to be studied. Elsen's 
Third and Fourth Readers are, assuredly, text-books of merit, but 
much of the material they contain is unappealing to many stu- 
dents. The wonderful riches of some of America's magazines of 
today, a few of the worth-while contemporary books of adven- 
ture, fiction, biography, history, and description, and some of the 
excellently arranged supplementary school readers certainly 
ought not to be excluded from the course nor be forbidden, or un- 
known, to the teachers and class, — an ideal which, happy to say, 
an occasional teacher of English in the junior high school grades 
has already, though perhaps unofficially, sought to realize. 

Educational theorists have for some time contended that six 
years devoted to the formal aspects of reading, writing and spell- 
ing are sufficient to give to all normal children the fundamentals 
of those arts, and that whatever additional training is provided 
should be secured incidentally in connection with the teaching 
of content studies. Why Grand Rapids, in view of these estab- 
lished theories, should continue to so large a degree to adhere 



SECONDARY SCHOOLS 233 

to traditional practices is not clear. While stressing so much the 
formal aspect of English there surely is a diminution of time 
available for the content side. Moreover, the question persistent- 
ly arises : Are ten periods (or even seven or eight periods) per 
week devoted to English in all its phases the best possible distri- 
bution of time for all types of mind, or even for the majority of 
pupils of the two grades under consideration? May not the policy 
of allowing certain pupils of keen language interests to substitute 
Latin or German for formal English grammar be a wise policy to 
adopt (the work to be substituted being altered) for other types 
of pupils, that is, for those who do not profit greatly by any 
formal language study? May not, in concrete, a course in busi- 
ness English, shop English, conversational English, magazine 
English, or a course embodying elements from all such fields, be 
fittingly employed more freely than at present? 

Undeniably one's own vernacular language and literature are 
pre-eminently important for each person. Hence some type of a 
course in English should be pursued by every pupil in every 
grade in the junior high school. But it is seriously questioned 
whether much of the oflferings and prescriptions in English in 
most of the junior high schools of Grand Rapids is the best and 
wisest. What a large number of seventh and eighth grade pupils 
will find most valuable, there is evidence to believe, is a course in 
which literary selections are largely taken from current writings 
dealing with science, nature, industry, travel, biography, history, 
current events, social questions, stories and fiction, and in which 
the expressional w^ork, both oral and written, is based upon, and 
motivized by, the impressions gained through the study of such 
selections and through the common everyday experiences of life. 
True development in language power comes from having some- 
thing to say and a motive for saying it forcefully, fittingly, and 
understandingly. It appears, therefore, convincing that much of 
the work in English in the seventh and eighth grades needs to be 
analyzed critically and reorganized sympathetically. The teach- 
ers of Grand Rapids have in the past worked out co-operatively 
some very satisfactory courses of study. It would be advan- 
tageous if they should undertake anew a revision of the woik in 
English. 

Similarly, the organization of the work in mathematics in 
the junior high schools is not in full accord with present-day psy- 
chological and sociological theories, nor with the practices of 
many of the most progressive schools of America and of foreign 
lands. Except for a small group of pupils of superior mathe- 
matical ability, the offering in this subject are confined entirely 
to arithmetic, and, nominally at least, to the formal, more or less 



234 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

unvitalized arithmetic of the typical text-book kind. In some 
classes, it is true, supplementary arithmetical work of a concrete, 
practical character is presented, but it is introduced more or less 
unauthoratatively, is in the form of additional work, not substi- 
tute work, and, at most, is given apparently a rather inconspic- 
uous place in the program. 

Here, again, flexibility of administration of the school oper- 
ates for the benefit of those who need it least. The youths who do 
well in formal mathematics, who are planning to continue their 
schooling in the senior high school and perchance in college, are 
allowed to enter upon the study of algebra a year or a half year 
earlier than they naturally would under the old traditional ar- 
rangement. The youth who has little interest in mathematics 
and who perhaps is not especially proficient in the subject is 
kept droning over the same type of material which he has sought 
to work through since almost his first entrance into school life. 
Why sucji an individual should be forced to thresh over old 
straw when it is apparent the effort is yielding little profit or re- 
turns is an unanswered question. To reiterate a statement which 
has once before been made in this report, the ideal of the junior 
high school is to provide a testing-place for pre-adolescent boys 
and girls who are seeking to discover themselves. Striking in- 
dividual differences are, known to characterize the young people 
of this stage of development. The demand on the schools, then, 
is to provide for these differences — just as surely and effectively 
for the ones who have brief educational careers before them or 
are not distinctively literary minded, as for those with a long 
school course ahead of them or who are particularly interested in 
tradional school materials. It is true, principals have the au- 
thority of excusing from the specifically outlined courses of study 
such pupils as are found to be wholly unsuited to pursue them, 
but the power is exercised very infrequently. Only the unusually 
retarded and exceedingly undeveloped pupil is thus irregularly 
classified. Provision in which the uniform prescriptions are 
wholly ignored or radically modified for entire sections of pupils 
is unknown. 

Moreover, v/hy the simpler processes of algebra — in partic- 
ular the knowledge and use of the simple algebraic equation — are 
denied any pupils whatever in the seventh and eighth grades is 
surely inexplicable. Why the beauties of form and the graphical 
representations of space as revealed in constructive geometry are 
never, or rarely, made a part of the instruction in these grades is 
mystifying. Practical mathematicians have repeately urged the 
advantages of the more elementary and fundamental portions of 
these two branches of mathematics over much of the arithmetical 



SECONDARY SCHOOLS 235 

material that is incorporated in our school work. Teachers and 
administrators of experience have many times discovered the fact 
that pupils inapt and dull in dealing with relatively complicated 
arithmetical processes and problems have entered with avidity 
upon the study of algebra or geometry and have shown unexpect- 
ed ability in the new work. And yet, in spite of these established 
facts, the school authorities in Grand Rapids adhere to the policy 
of withholding these subjects from pupils of the seventh and 
eighth grades until after they have completed the customary 
stated amount of formal arithmetic in those grades. On the other 
hand, the authorities swing to the equally indefensible extreme 
of absolutely prescribing an entire year's work in algebra for 
every pupil before he completes the junior high-school course and 
before he is admitted to full senior high-school rank. Absolutely 
to require algebra of all ninth-grade pupils is a survival of tradi- 
tional practices and can not be justified in a secondary school 
system designed by a democratic society to meet the practical, 
educational and social needs of young people of all types of mind 
and many kinds of vocational interest. A complete over-hauling 
and reorganization, therefore, of the course in mathematics in the 
junior high school is imperatively needed, and is earnestly recom- 
mended. 

The teaching of Latin and German in the seventh and eighth 
grades is commendable. Foreign language study as a field of 
youthful exploration surely demands a place in a school that 
aims to serve as an institution of introductory secondary training. 
It is a well-accepted pedagogical principle that the most appro- 
priate time in which to begin the pursuit of a foreign language 
is in the earlier years of life, before marked self-consciousness has 
become an inhibitory factor in expression and before sensitive- 
ness to the misuses of the conventional forms of speech is acute. 
Foreign language study should not be substituted, however, for 
the single course in English recommended above, but should be 
an elective subject for such pupils as may, after consultation with 
teachers and principal, decide to select it. Moreover, since the 
dominant purposes of the elementary courses in language study 
is to test linguistic capacity, the work should be made as inviting 
as that of any other elective subject. It is therefore doubtful if 
school credit should be withheld from pupils who pursue the sub- 
ject one year and then discontinue it for reasons that are peda- 
gogically satisfactory. To do so discourages the timid student, 
though possessing unknown language interests, from electing 
the courses at all, and encourages the mediocre pupil, who some- 
what early in the work discovers his inaptitude for it, to continue 
his unprofitable efforts for the sake of insuring the little credit 



236 SCHOOL SURVE\:, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

he has already conditionally earned. Persistency of application 
and continuity of undertaking are assuredly qualities of habit 
formation that need to be cultivated in the schools, liut there is 
no great educational value in continued and continuing defeat. 
''Nothing succeeds like success" is a maxim venerable by age, 
but the opposite statement is equally true, that Nothing fails like 
failure. Schoolmen need to appreciate this fact, and while not 
making the irregular transition from course to course an easy 
transition, yet they should not penalize too heavily the one who, 
for valid reasons, finds such change conducive to his best inter- 
ests. In fact there is much to be said in favor of a general 
course in foreign language in the seventh and eighth grades, the 
same as a general course is fashioned in science or mathematics 
or any other subject. Few, if any, pupils know, or can know, with 
any degree of certainty whether it would be wiser in their parti- 
cular cases to pursue Latin or German or French or Spanish. A 
course that should extend over two years and should open vistas 
of thought and knowledge respecting the country, the people, the 
civilization, the language, the literature, the history, of each of 
the four nations of Rome, Germany, France and Spain, would, 
logically and psycholoj^ically considered, have much merit. The 
dabbling for two years in each of several languages has been the 
weakness of much of our educational administration respecting 
language study. What is demanded is the reduction of the period 
of dabbling to the lowest valuable minimum, and the extension 
of the period of continuity of study to the longest realizable 
maximum. A two-year general linguistc course in the seventh 
and eighth grades w^ould effect the first desideratum ; the building 
upon this course for four or more additional years — if language 
study were to be continued at all — would eflfect the second ideal. 
The idea here advanced does not, of course, contemplate a five 
months' course in each of the four languages. What is advocated 
is rather a course about foreign languages and the peoples who 
use them than a course in several foreign languages. Such a 
course would seek to adduce facts of geography, history, litera- 
ture, beliefs, customs, and institutions of the several foreign 
nations and to focus these on the question of language. The 
work should, for the most part, be conducted in English, with in- 
cidental iise of foreign terms and expressions by way of illustra- 
tions, and should make extensive use of maps, pictures, charts, 
lantern slides and blackboards. The aim of such a course would 
be to enable pupils to know — as well as such a course could lead 
them to know — the essential differences and striking character- 
istics of form to be found within the several languages, the pur- 
pose and significance of foreign language study in general, and 



SECONDARY SCHOOLS 237 

in what respects each particular language possesses advantages 
over the other languages as a subject of formal study for high 
schools, if any pupil should elect later to pursue a course in for- 
eign language study intensively. Furthermore, a course of this 
type might be expected to yield some power of appreciation of 
the culture and civilization of foreign peoples — the chief, though 
often unrealized, end of more extensive foreign language courses 
in senior high schools and colleges. The time allotment of such 
a course might properly be twice per week. 

A course of this kind is confessedly open to the criticism that 
it is not primarily a course in foreign language, but is historico- 
sociological material. That criticism, however, holds equally 
validly with regard to a large portion of the material which enters 
into nearly every course in foreign language study in schools 
and colleges. The distinctive merit of a general course over the 
typical traditional introductory course in foreign language study 
is its frank acknowledgement of emphasis upon content values 
rather than form values. The object of the course would, there- 
fore, be realized if pupils who pursued it were guided fittingly in 
selecting, or omitting to elect, formal courses in language study 
later in their high-school years. Moreover, to make a course of 
this kind at all profitable would necessarily call for the 
services of no immature person as teacher, but one who has trav- 
elled extensively, studied deeply, and lived broadly. Such per- 
sons would not easily be found, but they are procurable. The en- 
tire idea, though perhaps novel, is not wholly idealistic. It has 
its prototype in certain ''appreciation courses" to be found in sev- 
eral schools of the United States. Nevertheless, the idea is ad- 
vanced not as a recommendation for permanent adoption but as 
a plan for a promising experiment. The measurable results of 
its operation would give justification for its retention or give 
warrant for its abandonment. Should any youths discover their 
true language bent before the completion of the course as planned 
they most assuredly should be permitted to pursue formally the 
language of their choice. 

The work in history in the junior high school grades also 
needs revision. It certainly is doubtful whether ancient history 
in the ninth grade is the most inviting, valuable or appropriate 
course for pupils of that stage of development. "Ancient Mis- 
ery" as one pupil styled it, it certainly is for many young people. 
The events described are so remote in point of time, the treat- 
ment of the topics is frequently so needlessly and discouragingly 
detailed, and the articulation of the subject-matter is so often so 
loosely made with the present-day interests of boys and girls that 
the subject makes little or no gripping appeal to large numbers of 



238 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

them. Moreover, the ninth grade is a grade so critical for school 
mortality that wisdom would seem to dictate that whatever work 
in history is offered here should be organized with the thought 
pre-eminently in mind of interesting pupils and developing in 
them a love for historical study. 

In place, then, of ancient history with its many unsatisfying 
and unsatisfactory results a course that may fittingly be styled 
elementary) social science may with wisdom be substituted. Such 
a course should aim to connect the pupil intimately and con- 
sciously with the institutional forms about him and to make him 
sensitive to the contemporary demands of society upon individ- 
uals, and conversely with the influence that individuals are daily 
exerting in modifying institutional and social agencies and pro- 
cesses. Such a course might appropriately begin with a study 
of local history as it is related to world history of the last cen- 
tury; might build on this foundation an elementary knowledge 
of political economy and commercial and industrial history and 
sociology; and culminate in a survey of the political, industrial 
and cultural activities and agencies of Grand Rapids. Through- 
out the course stress should surely be laid on the question of vo- 
cational choices and vocational guidance in much the same man- 
ner in which work of this nature is at present so admirably done 
throughout the school system. 

Precisely as in respect to the other introductory courses ad- 
vocated in this report, the successful administration of a course 
like the one sketched here will require that no novice or young 
college graduate be placed in charge of it. The judicious teaching 
of history at any stage in the school calls for a relative maturity 
of judgment and an experience with the world of social inter- 
course which few persons under the age of twenty-five can possi- 
bly have acquired. What particularly is needed at this period 
of the pupils' development is a teacher whose chief concern, to 
paraphrase a much-used thought, is to teach boys and girls and 
not merely the subject-matter of the books. 

Undoubtedly the elementary course in United States History 
and Government in the. eighth grade is fittingly placed where it 
is. In a system of schools that is supported by the state emphasis 
should surely be placed on the development of the intelligent 
and law-abiding citizen. Little argument, therefore, is needed to 
justify the inclusion of a systematic course in the history of our 
own country. The correlation, too, of history and geography in 
the seventh grade is clearly feasible. 

The one serious criticism that might be directed to the organ- 
ization of the history work of the seventh and eighth grades is 
that no provision is made for the presentation or study of the 



SECONDARY SCHOOLS 239 

great, significant world movements of all time, nor for the sys- 
tematic study of the notable human characters who have played 
their parts therein. True it is that biographical studies do con- 
stitute a part of the offerings in the earlier years of a pupil's 
schooling in Grand Rapids but in the nature of the case they can, 
below the seventh grade, include little else than the more strik- 
ing characteristics of personalty and the more simple events in 
the lives of heroes and heroines. Biographical studies as an 
agency for revealing the great revolutionizing, social forces that 
have been operating in world history since its beginning, must 
necessarily be deferred to a somewhat later period. At twelve 
or thirteen years of age, however, pupils have reached the stage 
when they are intensely interested in human beings not only as 
human beings, but also as authors and interpreters of social pro- 
cesses. Here, then, is a time in which historical studies centering 
about notable men and women can have a Avonderfully appealing 
influence. Moreover, unless pupils of this age are given the op- 
portunity to get acquainted with the great significant human 
movements of the entire past, many of them, because of their 
withdrawals from school, will never learn of them in any sys- 
tematic way. It seems reasonable, therefore, to urge that instead 
of devoting so long a period as three semesters, with some por- 
tions also of another semester, to United States History in the 
seventh and eighth grades, that a course in world history through 
biography be provided. This could well be placed in the second 
half-year of the seventh grade or possibly in the first half-year of 
this grade. Within the course biographical studies and corre- 
lated social events like the following might w^ell be included 
(without intending to be either dogmatic or complete in the sel- 
ection of topics) : Khufu, Nebuchadnezzar, Solomon, Cyrus the 
Great, Xerxes, Confucius, Lycurgus, Pericles and the Golden Age 
of Greece, Cincinnatus, Hannibal, Pompey, Julius Caesar, Augus- 
tus Caesar, Alaric, St. Benedict, Mohammed, Charles the Great, 
Alfred the Great, William the Conqueror, Robert Bruce, Joan 
of Arc, Frederick Barbarossa, Peter the Hermit, Lorenzo de 
Medici, Marco Polo, Martin Luther, Queen Elizabeth, Philip H 
of Spain, William the Silent, Mary Queen of Scots, Gustavus 
Adolphus, Cromwell, Marie Antoinette, Napoleon, and Bismarck. 

The importance of the study of history in a civilization such 
as ours is today and the disfavor in which the subject is at present 
held by many pupils in the schools gives warrant for experimen- 
tation in the work wherever it can be done. Wherever courses 
similar to the one advocated here have been provided many fav- 
orable results have been obtained, as witness for example the 
work in Berkeley, California. The recommendation is, therefore, 



240 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

that principals be authorized to test the merits of the plan if oc- 
casion permits and conditions favor. 

Elementary Science, in the most wonderful scientific and in- 
dustrial age of the world's history, should need little argument to 
justify its claim for a conspicuous and permanent place in the 
curriculum of a school that professes to be (as has repeatedly 
been said) a school for laying foundations in differentiated know- 
ledge and powers. A course of this kind has recently — second 
semester 1914-15 — been put in operation in the Grand Rapids sys- 
tem. However, in two of the schools it is allotted but two class 
periods per week; is, in the third school, planned for a single 
semester's election ; and is generally available only for those 
pupils who have completed the first half of the eighth grade and 
have passed all subjects therein with term grades not lower 
than "G" — the second highest grade given in the school system. 
Here, again, is seen the operation of the principle already several 
times pointed out as being in effect in Grand- Rapids, that "he 
that hath, to him shall be given : and he that hath not, from him 
shall be taken even that which he hath." The youth who is in- 
terested in things, who is eager for something concrete and tan- 
gible, who yearns for that which is different from the linguistic, 
arithmetic, grammatic studies, and who perchance does not sus- 
tain himself especially well in the work of those branches is re- 
pressed, discriminated against, and not permitted to test his capa- 
city and strength in what might prove to be the most attractive 
and profitable field of all for him. Grand Rapids needs therefore 
to expand, liberalize and popularize the course in general science 
in the junior high school and make it available, if not compulsory, 
for all pupils in regular standing in the eighth grade. Particular- 
ly does the industrial character of the city make such a course 
one of the minimum essentials of the training of all its future 
citizens. 

The work in physiology as at present given is exceedingly 
lacking in uniformity and in seriousness of presentation. Merely 
to make it a reading lesson in connection with the w^ork in Eng- 
lish, as it is in several of the sections, is to take from it its dignity 
as well as much of its worth. Especially true is this statement 
when the reading lesson in conducted almost solely for the sake 
of formal values and with little attention to the content side of 
what is read. The work should either be given over entirely to 
the director of physical training, or be incorporated in the course 
in elementary science. If it is to be taught by the several teach- 
ers of reading as at present it certainly should be raised to a high- 
er plane of worth and merit. 

The work provided in manual training and domestic science 



SECONDARY SCHOOLS 241 

and arts, is adequate and calls for no especial comment. The plan 
of giving each boy and each girl an elementary acquaintance 
with four aspects of the two general lines of work respectively 
(woodworking, machine shop, forge or metal work, and printing 
for the boys ; and sewing, cooking, millinery, and household de- 
signing for the girls) is an arrangement that is in perfect har- 
mony with the ideals of what the character and functions of a 
junior high school are. The flexibility of administration of the 
various divisions of the work and of the several sections of pupils 
in each is highly commendable. In like manner the provision for 
special, short-time, or intensified courses in printing, commercial 
work, manual arts, and other school subjects to meet the needs 
of pupils with peculiar school interests and limited economic re- 
sources is to be approved. The single recommendation that is 
to be made respecting the administration of such work is that 
the authority to enroll pupils in the several more or less irregu- 
lar courses be exercised by principals, not necessarily more fre- 
quently than at present but perhaps more willingly and less 
reluctantly, whenever the circumstances of individual pupils seem 
to warrant granting deviations from the standard arrangements. 

Whether, too, pupils in the eighth grade in all the schools 
and not alone at the Union School, ought not to be permitted 
to elect some work in the commercial department — at least to the 
extent of testing out their interests in this field the same as in 
any other — is a fair question to raise. There seems to be no valid 
reason why they should not do so, and, indeed, several positive 
arguments why they should. In the first place commercial work 
well taught possesses unique educational value of its own, the 
same as any other subject; secondly, the opportunity^ to elect a 
single course in commercial work each term of the seventh and 
eighth grades would tend to retain in school some who otherwise 
would possibly withdraw when occasion permitted ; and thirdly, 
it would enable some pupils to lay the foundations for specific 
vocational Work while continuing to pursue somewhat longer a 
generally cultural course. It is, therefore, recommended that the 
school authorities organize the work so as to make some courses 
in commercial branches elective to pupils below th^ ninth grade 
in all the junior high schools. 

The work in music and art, though somewhat limited in 
amount for the pupil in the general course, is doubtless adequate 
considering the demand of other subjects. In the department of 
art in particular the instruction is chiefly of an individual char- 
acter and hence pupils may advance as far and as rapidly as their 
several talents permit. 

All factors considered, the program of studies provided for 



242 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

the junior high schools of Grand Rapids is as varied and exten- 
sive as can usually be found in a city of approximately one hun- 
dred and twenty thousand people, and, so far as the range of 
offering is concerned, it is about as suited to local needs as the 
economic resources will permit. The chief defect is, as stated at 
the outset of this section of the report, too little flexibility of ad- 
ministration. The reorganization and readaptation which Grand 
Rapids has gradually been introducing during the past several 
years has not gone forward either sufficiently far or sufficiently 
rapidly. The interests and desires of the fortunate few who have 
pretty definitely selected their courses in school and perchance in 
life, and those Avho have rather superior intellectual ability on the 
whole are well and adequately provided for. The youths Vv^ho 
possess no decided bent in life and who are striving desper- 
ately to discover themselves, those who are somewhat indifferent 
to the traditional offerings of the school and yet are decidedly 
not stupid nor lazy, and those who are perhaps of mediocre in- 
tellectual ability and yet are sufficiently ambitious to seek to 
attain to an education commensuate, at least, with high-school 
graduation — for all these types the administration of the program 
of studies works not infrequently to a disadvantage. The pro- 
visions already made for the accelerant groups and for the retard- 
ed groups should be continued, but similar attention should be 
given to the peculiar individual needs as they are discoverable 
among the great mass of normal pupils. 

For the sake of comparisons there are inserted here the 
programs of study for the intermediate schools (junior high 
schools) as they are in operation in several cities of the country. 

Solvay, N. Y., Intermediate Schools 

7th and 8th Grades 
Open to All Pupils Who Have Finished the 6th Grade 

ACADEMIC COURSE 
(Modern Language) 

( Composition — oral and written 
Formal English j Grammar 

( Good usage 
Literature 
German 

Arithmetic and introductory mathematics 7th grade 
Algebra and geometry (Introductory) 8th grade 
Physiology and nature study 7th grade 
Biology 8th grade 
American and current history 
Commercial and industrial geography 
Practical and household arts 
Gymnasium 

Drawing (Appreciation) 
Music 
Penmanship 



SECONDARY SCHOOLS 



243 



BUSINESS COURSE 

( Reading 
Formal English j Spelling 

( Grammar and composition 
Literature 

Commercial arithmetic and bookkeeping 
Physiology and science 7th grade 
Biology 8th grade 
American and current history 
Commercial and industrial geography 
Typewriting 

Practical and household arts 
Drawing and appreciation 
Music 

Gymnasium for girls 
Penmanship 



ACADEMIC COURSE 
(English) 

Writing- 
Appreciation — reading selected stories 
Oral and written composition 
English i Memory selections 

Correct usage 
Technical grammar 
Spelling 

Arithmetic: applications of percentage and mensuration 

Physiology and nature study 

American history. Preparation to pass regents' examinations 

Commercial and industrial geography and review of geography for 

regents' examinations 
Manual training and mechanical drawing 
Household science 



Formal English 



Open to Pupils 125^ Years Old 

PRACTICAL ARTS 

For Boys 

Reading 
.Spelling- 
Grammar and good usage 
Composition, oral and written 

Literature (Appreciation) 
Arithmetic and mechanical drawing 
Physiology and general science 
American and current history 
Commercial and industrial geography 
Shop 
Music 
Penmanship 



244 



SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 



Formal Eno^lish 



HOUSEHOLD ARTS COURSE 
For Girls 

Reading 
Spelling 
Grammar 
Composition 

Literature 

Arithmetic 

Physiology and general science 

American and current history 

Commercial and industrial geography applied to household management 

Drawing and appreciation 

Music 

Cooking 

Sewing 

Gymnasium 

Penmanship 



VOCATIONAL COURSE IN GENERAL INDUSTRY 
For Boys 



Formal English 



Reading 
Spelling 
Grammar 
Composition 

Arithmetic and mechanical drawing 

American history 

Commercial and industrial geography (alternate years) 

Shop drawing 

Shop practice 



VOCATIONAL COURSE IN HOME MAKING 
For Girls 



Formal English 



Reading 
Spelling 
Grammar 
Composition 

Applied arithmetic and bookeeping 
History 

Industrial geography and textiles 
Citizenship and hygiene 
Plain sewing and dressmaking- 
Cooking 

Home furnishing and decoration 
Costume design and millinery design 
Household economics. 
Household science 
Home nursing 
Music 
Physical training 



SECONDARY SCHOOLS 



245 



READJUSTMENT YEAR 
9th Grade. 

PREPARATORY COURSES. 



Formal English 


3-3 


Literature 


2-2 


German 


5-5 


Introductory mathematics 


2-2 


Biology 


5-5 


Current history 


2-2 


Drawing 


4-2 



First column refers to number 
of 40-minute periods per week. 

Second column refers to 
school credits. 



21 

(Regents' counts, 16 or 17.) 

The work of the 7th and 8th grades of the Academic Modern 
Language and Mathematics Course may be accepted in place of the 1st 
year high school or 9th grade work of this course. 



2-1 
3-1 





COMMERCIAL 


COURSE. 


Formal English 
Literature 
General science 


3-3 
2-2 

5-5 


Typewriting 
Penmanship 


Current history 2-2 
Elementary bookkeeping 5-5 





19K' 



The work of the 7th and 8th grades of the Business Course may 
be accepted in place of the 1st year high school or 9th grade work of 
this course. 



PRACTICAL ARTS. 



Formal English 


3-3 


Mechanical drawing 


4-2 


Literature 


2-2 


Shop 


8-4 


Mathematics (Shop) 


2-2 







Current history 


2-2 




20 


General science 


5-5 







The work of the 7th and 8th grades of the Practical Arts course may 
be accepted in place oi the 1st year high school or 9th grade work of 
this course. 



HOUSEHOLD ARTS. 



5-3 
4-2 

20 



The work of the 7th and 8th grades of the Household Arts Course 
may be accepted in place of the 1st year high school or 9th grade work 
of this course. 



Formal English 


3-3 


Dressmaking 


Literature 


2-2 


Drawing 


Current history 


2-2 




General science 


5-5 




Cooking 


5-3 





246 



SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 



INTERMEDIATE SCHOOLS— LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA. 
Course of Study for Term Beginning September, 1912. 

GENERAL COURSE— REQUIRED SUBJECTS 



Seventh Year 
English 5 
Arithmetic 5. 
Geography, B7 5 
History, A7 5 
Physical Training 1 
Music 2 
Drawing 2 
Penmanship 2 
Manual Training: 
Girls: Cooking 2 
Sewing 2 
Boys: Wood- 
work 4 



Eighth Year 
English 5 

History and Civics 5 
Physical Training 2 
Oral English, B8 2 
Music, A8 2 

Physiology and 

Hygiene 2 

Manual Training: 
Girls: Cooking ? 
Sewing 2 
Boys: Wood- 
work 4 



Ninth Year 
English 5 

Physical Training ^ 
Music or oral 
English 2 



ELECTIVE SUBJECTS 



Select 1 of the fol- 
lowing: 

French 5 

German 5 

Spanish 5 

Latin 5 

Bookkeeping 5 

Stenography 5 

Note: Two lang- 
uages may be select- 
ed only by permis- 
sion. 



Select 2 of the fol- 
lowing: 

French 5 

German 5 

Spanish 5 

Latin 5 

Bookkeeping 5 

Stenography 5 
Mathematics: 

Arithmetic, B8 5 

Algebra, AS 5 
Drawing: 
Freehand or 

Mechanical 5 



Select 3 of the fol- 
lowing: 

French, German, 

Spanish or Latin 5 

Bookkeeping 5 

Stenography 5 

Algebra 5 

Com. Arithmetic 5 

Ancient History 5 

General Science 5 

Select 1 of the fol- 
lowing: 

Manual Training: 
Girls: Cooking 5 
Sewing 5 
Boys: Wood- 
work 5 
Drawing: 
Freehand or 
Mechanical 5 



SECONDARY SCHOOLS 



247 



TRENTON, N. J. INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL. 



7th Grade 

English 4 hours 

Eng-lish or Foreign 

Language 4 hours 

(Pupils taking English have 3 
(J/^) Hr. periods on typewriter.) 
Geography and History 4 hours 
Science 4 hours 

Mathematics 4 hours 



Academic Hours 20 

Shop 4 hours 

Drawing — (1 one-hour 

period) 3 hours 

Gymnasium — (2 one- 
half hour periods 2 hours 

Music — (2 one-half hour 

periods) 1 hour 



Shop hours 10 

Total hours 30 



8th Grade 

English 4 hours 

English or Foreign 

Language 4 hours 

(Pupils taking English shall 
have 3 one-half hours periods 
on the typewriter.) 
Geography and History 4 hours 
Science . 4 hours 

Mathematics — (Including 

Elementary Business 

Forms) 4 hours 



Academic Hours 20 

Shop 4 hours 

Drawing — (1 one-hour 

period) 3 hours 

Gymnasium — (2 one- 
half hour periods ) 2 hours 

Music — (2 one-half hour 

periods) 1 hour 



Shop hours 
Total hours 



10 



30 



9th Grade 

Commercial 

English — 4 hrs. 
Bookkeeping — 4 hrs. 
Science — 4 hrs. 
History and Civics — - 

4 hrs. 
Mathematics — 4 hrs. 
Typewriting — 4 hrs. 
Drawing — 2 hrs. 
Gymnasium and Music 

(As in Academic 

Course.) 



Academic 

English — 4 hrs. 
Foreign Language — 

4 hrs. 
Science — 4 hrs. 
History and Civics- 

4 hours. 
Mathematics — 4 hrs. 
Shop — 4 hrs. 
Drawing — 2 hrs. 
Gymnasium — 3 hrs. 

(2 1 hr. periods.) 

(2 y^ hr. periods.) 

Music — 1 hr. 

(2 y2, hr. periods.) 

Each day consists of six periods of sixty minutes each. 

Work in science and mathematics will demand separate classes for 
girls and boys._ Mathematics will not necessarily be the same for all 
boys and girls in the same year. 



Industrial 

English — 4 hrs. 
Science — 4 hrs. 
History and Civics — 

4 hrs. 
Mathematics — 4 hrs. 
Shop — 6 hrs. 
Drawing — 4 hrs. 
Gymnasium and music 

(As in Academic 

Course.) 



248 



SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 



OUTLINE OF COURSE OF STUDY IN THE GRAND RAPIDS, 
MICHIGAN, JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOLS 



7-1 Grade 



English (E 1) 
Arithmetic (Ml) 
Geography (G 7) 
Reading (R 1) 
Bench Work (Sh 1) 
Dom. Science (D S 1) 
Dom. Art,(D A 1) 
Printing (Print 1) 
Music (Mu 1) 
Art (Art 1) 


5 
5 
4 
1 
3 
3 
1 
1 
1 
1 




21 


Elective and Special 




Business Arith. 
Applied Eng. 
Latin (LI) 
Mech. Draw. 
German (G 1) 
Chorus or Orchestra 


5 
5 
5 
2 
5 
2 


8-1 Grade 





English (E 3) 5 

Arithmetic (M 3) 5 

American History (H 2) 4 

Reading (R 3) 1 

Shop Work (3) 3 

Dom. Science (D S 3) 3 

Dom. Art (D A 3) 1 

Printing (Print 3) 1 

Music (Mu 3) 1 

Art (Art 3) 1 

21 



7-2 Grade 

English (E 2) 5 

Arithmetic (M 2) 5 

American History (H 1) 4 

Reading (R 2) 1 

Bench Work (Sh 2) 3 

Dom. Science (D S 2) 3 

Dom. Art (D A 2) 1 

Printing (Print 2) 1 

Music (Mu 2) 1 

Art (Art 1) 1 

21 

Elective and Special 

Business Arith. 5 

Applied Eng. 5 

Chorus or Orchestra 2 

Printing 5 to 25 

Dom. Art 5 to 10 

German (G 2) 5 

Latin (L 2) - 5 

Mech. Draw. 3 



8-2 Grade 

English (E 4) 
Arithmetic (M 4) 
American History (H 4) 
Reading (R 4) 
Shop Work (4) 
Dom. Science (D S 4) 
Dom. Art (DA 4) 
Printing (Print 4) 
Music (Mu 4) 
Art (Art 4) 



5 
5 
4 
1 
3 
3 
1 
1 
1 
1 

21 



Elective and Special 



Elective and Special 



Latin (L 3) 




5 


Latin (L 4) 


5 


German (G 3) 




) c 


German (G 4) 


5 


Mech. Draw. 




3 


Mech. Draw. (2) 


3 


Business Arith. 




5 


Business Arith. 


5 


Applied Eng. 




5 


Applied Eng. 


5 


Chorus or Orchestra 




2 


Chorus or Orchestra 


2 


Printing 


5 


to 25 


Printing 


5 to 25 


Dom. Art 


5 


to 10 


Metal Working 


2 


Art 


5 


to 10 


Dom. Art 


5 to 10 


Metal Working 




' 2 


Art 


5 to 10 


Elementary Science 




2 


Elementary Science 


2 



SECONDARY SCHOOLS 249 

9-1 Grade 9-2 Grade 

English (E 5) 5 ?"^^i^^' Ifv 9^ 5 

Algebra (M 5) 5 Algebra (M 6) 5 

Ancient History (H 5) 5 Ancient History (H 6) 5 

Latin (L 5) or (L 5a) 5 Latin (L 6 or L 6a) 5 

German (G 5) or (G 5a) 5 Sj''"^-^^ (^ 6 or G 6a) 5 

Pen. and Spelling (P & S) 5 Physical Geography (S 6) 5 

Physical Geography (S 5) 5 Bookkeeping (Bk 6) 5 

Bookkeeping (Bk 5) 5 g^. & Shop (6) 5 

Dr. & Shop (5) 5 Design (Des 6 2/. 

Freehand Draw. (Fh D 5) 2^^ goi^?stic Art (DA 6) 5 

Domestic Art (D A 5) 5 Physical Train. (Ph Tr 6) 1 

Physical Train. (Ph Tr 5) 1 

Note 1: This course of study in 7th and 8th grades is offered only 
in those schools that have departmental organization of those grades. 

Note 2: The number opposite each subject in the outline indicates 
the number of recitations per week or the credit toward graduation. 

Note 3: The symbol in parenthesis indicates the abbreviation for 
the subject and the number of the semester in which it is given counting 
from the 7-1 grade. - > 

Grand Rapids, in the junior high-school work, has very wise- 
ly departed from the uniform five-period per week schedule for 
all classes. The essential ideal in a school of the kind under con- 
sideration is multiplicity of reactions, an attainment of many 
kinds of intellectual and emotional experiences, and not so much 
completeness of knowledge or depth of insight. Hence it follows 
that pupils should be encouraged to pursue several subjects sim- 
ultaneously and not limit their work to a relatively small number 
of studies. Nevertheless, physical and mental efforts have their 
limitations. In consequence the alternative is either a few sub- 
jects pursued somewhat intensively through daily recitation per- 
iods or a larger number of subjects pursued less often than five 
times per week. What should be the minimum number of weekly 
class periods allowed to any pupils of normal health has never 
been scientifically determined. In Germany, in secondary schools, 
youths of the age of junior high-school pupils in America are re- 
'quired to carry thirty, thirty-one, or thirty-three periods per 
week. In France and also in several other European countries 
the number of class recitation periods is approximately the same. 
It seems very reasonable to think the American boys and girls 
are able to carry a like number of periods and that they should 
be expected to do so. 

In order to administer the junior high school with the degree 
of flexibility that has been advocated throughout this report — 
looking carefully after the interest of each individual, providing 
for accelerant groups, retarded groups, dififerentiated groups 
among pupils of normal capacities but varying interests, permit- 
ting the election for extra credit of supplementary courses in 



250 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

Latin, German, general science, and other subjects — in order to 
administer such a program with any degree of ease and satisfac- 
tion, it seems both necessary and desirable that the ''point" sys- 
tem of recording credits should be adopted for the seventh and 
eighth grades the same as for the upper grades of the high 
school. In lieu of the present requirement of 150 points for grad- 
uation a total of 250 might justly be prescribed, 100 of these 
nominally to be acquired in the lower grades of the junior high 
school. Indeed there is much to be said in favor of organizing 
the entire work of the seventh and eighth grades on the principle 
of minimum essential prescriptions for all pupils and optional 
electives beyond these. At the present, such modifications as are 
permitted in the selection of courses come about for the most part 
as substitutions for other or traditional courses, and not usually 
as additional courses. In other words, bright, ambitious pupils 
who looks ahead of the present moment and seek to accumulate 
sufficient credit by extra efforts to permit them to shorten some- 
what the period usually needed for graduation from high school, 
have no definite assurance that the additional efiforts will be 
specifically recognized in any formal manner except in respect 
to work in Latin and German. Thus, for example, pupils who 
devote much time beyond what is prescribed to art, drawing, 
manual training, domestic science and art, commercial work, and 
general science do so wholly gratuitously. Granted that, ideally 
speaking, all persons should undertake works of supererogation, 
if for no other reason than the subjective effects such efforts have 
upon the actor, nevertheless the schools are organized on a defin- 
ite basis of attainments, marks, credits, promotions, and gradu- 
ation, and pupils recognize the fact as clearly as do teachers and 
administrators. A policy of the sort advocated should stimulate 
to effort many a person who can only with difficulty be reached 
in any other manner. 

The plan, too, of conducting graduating exercises at the com- 
pletion of the eighth-grade work is unwise. The custom is a sur- 
vival of a practice which had some justification at a time when 
few expected to continue their schooling beyond the eighth grade 
and doubtless needed the stimulus of the prospective honor to 
hold them to their educational work even through this grade. 
Today different traditions and the operation of the state com- 
pulsory school law make the retention of the custom unnecessary. 
To perpetuate it is to continue to accentuate the notion that the 
completion of the work of the eighth grade marks a natural stop- 
ping point in schooling. The eft'ect of such exercises is likely 
therefore to be diametrically opposed to the spirit that has pro- 
duced the junior high school. Certificates indicating the comple- 



SECONDARY SCHOOLS 251 

tion of the elementary course may with full propriety be issued 
at this time, or at the end of the junior high-school course, but 
public graduation exercises can most wisely be eliminated entire- 
ly until the senior high-school course has been finished. 

The wisdom of segregating pupils by sexes in certain sub- 
jects has not as yet been so fully tested in American schools as 
to make the policy thoroughly defensible. There is, hoAvever, 
much to be said in favor of following the plan. For example, 
the idea of providing separate sections for boys and girls in 
eighth-grade arithmetic offers many advantages. Boys could 
then be given instruction and drill in problems that relate speci- 
fically to boys' interests or to interests that boys will be apt to 
follow when men. In like manner the work for girls could center 
about the problems of the home and woman's work in general. 
The work in drawing and designing lends itself to a similar kind 
of administration; while the segregation of pupils in study or 
session rooms has been practiced in some cities for years. It is, 
therefore, recommended that the principals take up for considera- 
tion the idea of putting into operation the plan of sex segregation 
in certain lines of work and arrive at some definite conclusions 
for themselves. 

A later section of this report considers the question of teach- 
ers and their qualifications. It is, however, appropriate here to 
raise the question of the ideal for teachers in the junior high 
school. There is no valid reason why teachers of departmental- 
ized seventh and eighth grades should not possess precisely as 
thorough a training, both academic and professional, as the teach- 
ers of the other grades of the high school. Indeed there are 
positive reasons why it should be so. It seems appropriate to in- 
sist that teachers of these two grades should possess unusual 
ripeness of experience both in life in general and in school work, 
vigorous health, commanding presence, inspiring personality, 
sympathy, and an abiding interest in boys and girls of the early 
adolescent period. There are probably no grades in the entire 
school system that lay heavier burdens upon a teacher than the 
seventh and eighth grades. The lower grades may require of her 
peculiar traits of natural ability ; the upper grades may demand 
of her a knowledge of science and philosophy; but the seventh 
and eighth grades exact of her the qualities of studied and ripen- 
ed art. In the senior high school success may come to a teacher 
who teaches well her subject; in the seventh and eighth grades 
success will come only when the teacher teaches well her pupils. 

It follows, therefore, that none but the scholarly person of 
mature experience should be put in charge of the grades under 
consideration — none but the person who not only is a fair master^ 



252 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

of the subject-matter she teaches and who can grasp it in its 
entirety and diversity, but who also can relate it artfully to the 
life experiences of youths who are just beginning to discover 
themselves in a world of reality and ideality. It matters but lit- 
tle in education how the finishing touches are given to a pupil's 
development ; foundations on the other hand are all important. 
The task of introducing pupils for the first time to new lines of 
thought and responses calls for the highest skill, as most college 
presidents and school superintendents and principals of experi- 
ence can readily testify. The green, callow youth, perfect it may 
be in the knowledge of the subject to be taught, but ignorant 
of the deeper meanings of life and life's relations, will serve the 
cause of education vastly better if put in charge of advanced 
rather than beginning courses. From the typical young A. B. 
student who is fresh from college the junior high school should 
forever be delivered. 

In developing the junior high schools Grand Rapids has, at 
least in part, seemed to keep this ideal before it. The decision 
to employ henceforth none but college-bred teachers for any 
grade above the sixth grade, is eminently wise and proper. The 
further decision to put these teachers on the same salary basis ir- 
respective of the grades in which they teach is likewise sound 
economy and sensible pedagogy. The additional determination 
to require teachers to assume charge of classes in several dis- 
tinct grades — from the seventh to the twelfth — and to break 
down any false notion of superiority in rank solely because of the 
teaching of advanced pupils is wholesome and wise. 

Grand Rapids has adopted a humane and sensible policy in 
not unceremoniously eliminating from the school system old and 
faithful teachers who do not quite measure up immediately to the 
new standards. Time and opportunity for making readjustments 
must be permitted. For teachers who are temperamentally un- 
fitted for departmental work in the new system, or who by rea- 
son of years can not prepare themselves for the new tasks, or 
who prefer to continue in undepartmentalized rooms, transfers of 
positions must be made. The schools exist for the pupils, not for 
any body of teachers or administrators. Change of system works 
hardships in all forms of activity in which it is carried out, but 
so long as care is exercised to minimize the disadvantages to the 
lowest possible degree no just complaints can be imposed. 

Hence the Board of Education will do well to grant leaves 
of absence to such teachers as seek them, to the end that they 
may pursue, if the}^ desire, academic and professional work at 
normal schools or colleges, and thus fit themselves anew for re- 
tention in the school svstcm. Meanwhile, it will be wise for 



SECONDARY SCHOOLS 253 

heads of departments in the senior high schools to exercise super- 
visory control over the work that is carried on in the junior high 
schools. Departmental staff meetings, at which shall be included 
teachers of the same subject in any of the grades above the sixth, 
should certainly be held at frequent intervals and a spirit of 
solidarity, homogeneity and co-operation should be developed. 

The provisions at the present time in operation for meeting 
the needs of pupils in recreational, social and quasi-academic 
forms are, for the most part, appropriate and adequate in each 
school. Departmental clubs ; literary, dramatic and musical 
societies ; opportunities to develop interest and initiative in co- 
operative undertakings relating to school publications, school 
assembly meetings, and school parties are numerous. Physical 
training and facilities for securing physical recreation are being 
given the attention they deserve. The one most serious lack in 
respect to this matter is found at the South High School. No 
playground or athletic grounds are available for the pupils of this 
school. And yet directly opposite the building toward the north 
on Hall street is an exceptionally well-situated vacant tract, ap- 
proximately a quarter of a block square, that would meet the 
needs of the school admirably. Steps should be taken immediate- 
ly to secure this tract of land, or some other convenient tract, 
for an athletic ground for the pupils of this school. 

By way of reiteration and summary, therefore, the most ur- 
gent need that exists with reference to the program or course of 
study in the junior high schools is a more extensive and freer 
exercise by principals of the authority to arrange special classes 
for special types of pupils and to administer the work in the reg- 
ular courses with a greater degree of attention to individual in- 
terests. That is, the pupil Avho is out of step with the other boys 
.and girls in the school, the pupil for whom the traditional classi- 
fication, the traditional methods of instruction are ill-adapted if 
not wholly unsuited, should, so far as practicable, be treated on 
an individual basis and in the manner that his peculiar interests 
necessitate. This implies certainly the organization of accelerant 
•groups of pupils, but it much more surely contemplates the plan 
of substitution, as occasion demands, of some or all of the follow- 
ing courses for the regularly scheduled correlative courses, name- 
ly : business English for English grammar ; business or household 
arithmetic for traditional mathematics ; history of industry, com- 
merce and the domestic arts for traditional political history; 
specific trade subjects for general courses in manual arts or dom- 
estic arts ; and courses in musical and literary appreciation. 
School credit for out-of-school work of varied and suitable kind 
may also wisely be granted. 



254 



SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 



The Senior High School. 

Grand Rapids has made provision in three separate centers 
for the work of the upper three grades of the high school, albeit 
the new South School is as yet not fully organized. Each of 
these schools aims to be a cosmopolitan high school. Each, how^- 
ever, emphasizes certain types of work that the others do not and 
in this manner serves its particular constituency in an appropriate 
manner. 

In the range of subject-matter, in the intensiveness or con- 
tinuity of offerings and, in general, in the results obtained little 
more than words of approval and commendation can be spoken. 
There is some doubt whether the most desirable forms of organi- 
zation and the wisest modes of administration are always to be 
found. This section of the report therefore deals principally 
with these phases of the work. 

OUTLINE OF COURSE OF STUDY IN THE GRAND RAPIDS, 
MICHIGAN, SENIOR HIGH SCHOOLS 



10-1 Grade 

English (E 7) 5 

Public Speaking (7) 1 

Algebra (M 7) 5 
Ancient History (H 5) or 
European History (Long 

Course) (H 7) 5 

Latin (L 7) or (L 7a) 5 

German (G 7) or (G 7a) 5 
Agricultural Botany (Agr. 7) 5 

Botany (S 7) 5 

Zoology (Z 7) 5 

Bookkeeping (Bk 7) 5 

Dr. & Shop (7) 5 
Freehand Drawing (7) 2J/2 
Dom. Science (7) 

11-1 Grade 

English (E 9) or (E 9a) 5 

Geometry (M 9) 5 
European History (Long 
Course) (H 9) or Euro- 
pean History (Short 

Course) (H 9a) 5 

Latin (L 9) or (L 9a) 5 
Greek (Gk 9a) 

German (G 9) or (G 9a) 5 

French (F 9a) 5 

Spanish (Sp 9a) 5 

Chemistry (S 9) 5 

Commercial Law (C L 9) 5 



10-2 Grade 

English (E 8) 5 

Public Speaking (8) 1 
Ancient History (H 6) or 
European History (Long 

Course) (H 8) 5 

Latin (L 8) or (L 8a) 5 

German (G 8) or (G 8a) 5 

Agriculture (Agr. 8) 5 

Botany (S 8) 5 

Zoology (Z 8) 5 

Physiology (Py 8) 5 

Bookkeeping (Bk 8) 5 

Dr. & Shop (8) 5 

Design (Des 8) 2>^ 

Dom. Science (8) 5 

11-2 Grade 

English (E 10) or (E 10a) 5 

Geometry (M 10) 5 
European History (Long 
Course) (H 10) or Euro- 
pean History (Short 

Course) (E 10a) 5 

Latin (L 10) or (L 10a) 5 

Greek (Gk 10a) 5 

German (G 10) or (G 10a) 5 

French (F 10a) 5 

Spanish (Sp 10a) 5 

Chemistry (S 10) 5 

Industrial History (I H 10) 5 



SECONDARY SCHOOLS 



255 



11-1 Grade — Continued 

Typewriting & Stenography 

( T & S 9a) 5 

Draw. & Shop (D & S 9) 5 

Mechanical Drawing (9) 5 

Domestic Art (9) 5 
Freehand Drawing (Fr D 9) 2K> 

Oratory (P Spk 9) 2 

12-1 Grade 

English (E 11) or (E 11a) 5 

Solid Geometry (M 11) 5 

American History (H 11) 5 

Latin (L 11) or (L 11a) 5 

Greek (Gk 11a) 5 

German (G 11) or (G 11a) 5 

French (F 11a) 5 

Spanish (Sp 11a) 5 

Physics (S 11) 5 

Economics (Econ 11) 5 
Typewriting & Stenography 

(T & S 11a) 5 

Draw. & Shop (D & S 11) 5 

Mechanical Drawing (11) 5 
Housekeeping, Domestic 

Science (D S 11) 5 

Debating (P Spk 11) 2 



11-2 Grade— Continued 

Typewriting & Stenography 

(T & S 10a) 5 

Draw. & Shop (D & S 10) 5 

Mechanical Drawing (10) 5 

Domestic Art (10) 5 

Design (Des 10) 5 

Oratory (P Spk 10) 2 

12-2 Grade 

English (E 12) 5 

Trigonometry (M 12) 5 

American History (H 12) 5 

Latin (L 12> or (L 12a) 5 

Greek (Gk 12a) 5 

German (G 12) or (G 12a) 5 

French (F 12a) 5 

Spanish (Sp 12a) 5 

Physics (S 12) 5 

Salesmanship (S'h'p 12) 5 
Typewriting & Stenography 

( T & S 12a) 5 

Draw. & Shop (D & S 12) 5 

Mechanical Drawing (12) 5 
Home Economics (Dom. 

Sci. 12) 5 

Debating (P Spk 12) 5 



In the specific requirements for graduation, Grand Rapids 
has adopted the standard that quite generally is to be found in 
Michigan and the Central Northwest, namely : English, 3 years ; 
mathematics, 2 years ; history, 1 year ; science, 1 year ; and voca- 
tional subjects (manual training, domestic science and art, com- 
mercial branches and like subject), 1 year. The prescriptions, 
except for the omission of foreign language study, meet the speci- 
fic entrance requirements of the University of Michigan and at 
the same time insure to the pupils both variety of subjects and 
some degree of continuity of effort within them. 

Several questions may be raised in reference to the work 
here outlined. Among these are the following: In an intensely 
practical age like ours should two years of mathematics in the 
form in which the course in mathematics is organized for the high 
schools today be an absolute requirement for every pupil who 
seeks the honor of graduation? In a public-school system 
which aims primarily to develop loyal citizens of the realm ought 
not the prescription in history to be specifically American His- 
tory and Civics? In a generation in which science is so funda- 
mental a subject in life relations as it is today should not two 
years' work in that field of knowledge be expected of each pupil — 
one year in the biological and one year in the physical depart- 
ment? Are, indeed, three years' work in English the best dis- 



256 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

tribution of time for all youths irrespective of their interests 
and life ambitions? 

These queries are fair but cannot be answered dogmatically 
nor categorically. Educational values depend for their realiza- 
tion upon many and diverse factors. The true manner of curri- 
culum making is to consider the especial needs and the particular 
difficulties of the youths for whom the work is being planned. 
The questions that are raised are ones, therefore, that can best 
be referred to the several principals and their teaching stafifs for 
detailed analyses and for recommendations to the superintendent 
and the Board of Education. They are, therefore, so referred, with 
the present recommendation that they be not allowed to lie on 
the table indefinitely but be considered forthwith on their re- 
spective merits. 

A second observation noted in reference to the work of the 
senior high schools is that no provision is made either for the 
definite segregation of boys and girls in any of the academic de- 
partments or for the differentiation of class work among different 
sections of the same subject, except that a long and a short course 
are arranged in European History. The work in the first two 
years of Latin and German, for example, is precisely alike for 
those who plan to pursue a four-year course or more in each ; is' 
precisely the same for pupils who seek to acquire such a general 
acquaintance with the forms and vocabularies as will aid them 
later, in a practical way, in the study of legal, medical, pharma- 
ceutical, chemical, and other technical branches involving for- 
eign language elements and for those whose interests are pri- 
marily literar}^ or cultural. In like manner physics and chemistry 
are organized in precisely the same form and presented in precise- 
ly the same manner for boys and girls, except for incidental modi- 
fications for individual pupils within the class, for those planning 
to continue their education in college and technical schools and 
for those who are not, and for those whose interests are primarily 
domestic or industrial and those whose interests are aesthetic and 
general. Like conditions are to be found in the organization and 
administration of other branches of study, though perhaps of- 
fering less basis for criticisms. In schools enrolling as many 
pupils as the schools of Grand Rapids more than one class section 
in each of the several subjects may ordinarily be expected for 
each year. There is, therefore, intrinsically no apparently insup- 
erable leason why a differentiation of the w^ork in the several sec- 
tions might not be provided and why the specific needs of the 
varying types of students who elect the courses or can be pre- 
vailed upon to elect them may not thus be more fully met. The 
fact that such flexibility of administration and such adaptation to 



SECONDARY SCHOOLS 257 

individual needs are not more completely planned must account 
in no small degree for the enormous decrease in the number of 
pupils electing third and fourth-year foreign language study as 
compared with the elections of the first and second years. The 
same body of facts must also quite largely explain the poor show- 
ing made by some of the sciences in attracting numbers of pupils 
to them. The following figures, taken from the class rolls of the 
second semester, February to June, 1916, indicate what is meant. 

A perusal of this table arouses some interesting queries. 
Why, for example, are only 15 pupils in the Central High School 
electing fourth-year Latin? What explanation is there for the 
fact that in the entire system only 67 pupils are pursuing third- 
year Latin, and only 82 that are pursuing the subject longer than 
two years ? Why are only 28 pupils electing fourth-year German, 
particularly when third-year German classes are large? What 
explanation is there for the fact that more than half of all pupils 
stud3nng mathematics and history are enrolled in the first-year 
classes in both subjects? Why do only 10 girls elect zoology 
and only 50 boys elect botany? Why is it that four times as 
many boys elect chemistry as do girls, and only 180 pupils, all 
told, are pursuing the subject? Why is only one girl at the 
Union School studying physics and only 47 girls in the entire 
school system? 

It seems very obvious from the above comparative statistics 
and unanswered queries that the entire curriculum of the second- 
ary schools demands careful analysis and possibly radical reor- 
ganization. It seems especially obvious that if foreign language 
study in the high schools is to continue to make an effective ap- 
peal to pupils in a practical age such as ours, that the work must, 
in the earlier years particularly, be made much more specifically 
varied and vital than it has been. Indeed in cosmopolitan high 
schools such as Grand Rapids maintains there is every reason 
why some of the courses at least, and particularly of the first and 
second years, should be given a distinctly practical or functioning 
trend. The courses of the third and fourth years may be continu- 
ed, if thought desirable, chiefly as literary studies pure and 
simple. It is therefore recommended that teachers of foreign 
languages give respectful attention to the modern demands which 
a practical age is making of them in respect to the organization 
and presentation of the subjects which they teach, and so far as it 
is possible for a body of teachers in a single school system to be 
independent of those forces of tradition which they clearly see to 
be ill-suited to contemporary school procedure, that they recog- 



258 



SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS. MICHIGAN 



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SECONDARY SCHOOLS 259 

nize and re-adapt foreign language study to the spirit of those 
demands. 

A recommendation of like sort is also made to teachers of all 
the other traditional subjects. Particularly is there need, both on 
general educational principles and on the basis of the facts ex- 
hibited in the table presented herewith (Table XXXIII), for 
a modification of the work in some of the science courses. House- 
hold chemistry and a course in physics that shall deal primarily 
with the common phenomena of daily life and include only a min- 
imum of the quantative studies of technical and quasi-technical 
topics relating to specialized interests surely are the educational 
rights of the girl and the boy who are seeking a secondary-school 
training which leads directly to the home and to business, just as 
fully as the more intensified courses are the democratic high- 
school birthright of the youths who are planning a college career. 
The dogma : "Whatever best fits for college also and necessarily 
best fits for life" is no longer accepted as good pedagogy or good 
common sense. 

The one branch of study that appears to be unduly limited 
in the scope of its offerings in the Grand Rapids high schools is 
music. This fact is peculiarly strange since the city is the center 
of unusual musical activity and interest. Choruses, orchestras, 
glee clubs, and bands do exist in thriving fashion in each of the 
several schools, and instruction once or twice a week is given in 
the art of musical expression. But, except at the Central High 
School, and even here largely in the Junior College, no provision 
is made for studies like harmony, history of music and musical 
appreciation. Nor, except in rare instances, is school credit al- 
lowed for musical studies carried forward outside the school sys- 
tem. It is therefore recommended that the authorities consider 
the advisability both of extending the range of offerings in music 
in the several schools and also of accepting more freely, but 
under guarded conditions, a limited number of credit points for 
musical studies pursued privatel}^ by pupils. 

In general Grand Rapids has made ample provision for 
courses in manual training. A possible exception is found at the 
Central High School. Here no opportunity is oft'ered young men 
to acquire training in any form of metal work or forging, nor is 
a machine shop operated. There seems to be some demand for 
work of this kind, and the manual training rooms, as at present 
arranged, permit the easy installation of it. The authorities are, 
therefore, advised to consider the wisdom of the project and to 
provide for its inauguration if conditions warrant doing so. 

In providing for the organization of recitation sections, Grand 
Rapids has in general kept the size of classes at an advantageous 



260 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

figure. Of course no absolutely fixed number of pupils per class 
can be designated as the invariable minimum and maximum 
standards. The North Central Association of Colleges and Sec- 
ondary Schools has gone on record as follows : ''No recitation 
class should enroll more than thirty pupils." On the other hand 
local and temporary conditions often make the organization of 
classes with an unusually small number of pupils entirely justifi- 

TABLE XXXIV 

Facts concerning the enrollment of students according to subject in 
three of the Grand Rapids High Schools. 

CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL 

Number of Number of Number of Average Size 

SUBJECT Sections Pupils Teachers of Class 

English 50 1083 11 21 + 

Mathematics 37 849 9 23 — 

History 22 493 5 22 — 

German 19 Z7i 4 19 — 

French 5 86 1 17- 

Spanish „ 3 53 1 17-- 

Latin 22 481 5 22— 

Science 26 525 8 20+ 

Commercial Work 26 557* 6 21 + 

Additional facts : 

(a) Only one class in the school enrolls more than 30 pupils, except certain 
classes in commercial work, art, and manual training. 

(b) No class enrolls fewer than 12 pupils, while the following number enroll be- 
tween 12 and 20 each: Latin, 3; Science, 8; Commercial Work, 5; English,, 
14; Mathematics 1; History, 6; German, 6. Total, 43. 

* The compilation omits one class in spelling, penmanship, etc., of 312 pupils. 

UNION HIGH SCHOOL 

Number of Number of Number of Average Size 

SUBJECT Sections Pupils Teachers of Class 

English 21 496 6 23 + 

Mathematics 19 420 4 22 + 

History 10 217 2 22— 

German 10 128 2 13— 

Latin 4 69 2 17 + 

Science 13 271 3 21— 

Commercial Work 14 293 3 21— 

Additional facts : 

(a) Aside from the semi-vocational classes three sections only enroll more than 
30 pupils. 

(b) Eleven sections enroll but 12 or fewer students each. These are: German, 
6 ; Latin, 1 ; French, 1 ; Science, 1 ; History, 2. 

SOUTH HIGH SCHOOL 

Number of Number of Number of Average Size 

SUBJECT Sections Pupils Teachers of Class 

English 22 518 5 23 + 

Mathematics 22 630 5 29— 

History 17 448 4— 26+ 

German 5 110 1 22 

Latin 6 108 1+ 18 

Science 4 92 1 23 

Commercial Work 11 299 3 27+ 

Additional facts • . . . 

(a) The following sections with enrollments above 30 pupils each are being 
conducted: English, 2; Mathematics, 10; History, 5; German, 1; Com- 
mercial Work, o. 

(b) Only three sections hare fewer than twelve pupils enrolled. These are: 
German, 1 ; Latin, 2. 



SECONDARY SCHOOLS 261 

able from the standpoint of both pedagogical theory and econom- 
ic expenditures. 

A perusal of the daily schedules for the second semester, 
1915-16, of the several high schools in Grand Rapids reveals 
some interesting facts relating to this topic. 

It is clear from the above statistics that attention to certain 
administrative changes should be given forthwith. With ten 
sections in German at the Union School enrolling in the aggre- 
gate 128 pupils and with six of these sections enrolling fewer than 
thirteen pupils each (one enrolling 4, one 6, one 10, and two 12), 
with one section in French enrolling only 4 persons and one sec- 
tion in Latin enrolling 7, there is convincing evidence that the 
supply of language offerings of the kind that is given is in excess 
of the demand. On the other hand, with 24 sections at the South 
High School each enrolling more than 30 pupils per section (and 
eight of them enrolling more than 35 pupils each) it is equally 
clear that the number of class divisions and consequently the 
number of teachers employed is inadequate. The phenomenal 
growth of the school during the past year may in part excuse a 
situation which ought not to be continued permanently. 

That the training given to pupils in the several high schools 
of Grand Rapids is, generally speaking, appropriately broad in 
scope and acceptably efifective in quality is evident in several 
ways. The term marks that are given out by teachers do not 
necessarily carry with them to others the positive conviction of 
infallibility. However they do have their value. The accompany- 
ing table shows the distribution of grades as they were issued by 
the Union High School in February, 1916. The percentage of 
failures, except jn a few subjects, is not unduly large or small. 

TABLE XXXV 

Percentage of pupils in 17 classes at the Union High School with 
records of E, G, F, 75, failures, conditions, and incompletes for the 
semester ending January 26, 1916. 

E 

SUBJECT % 

Algebra-1 21.27 

Algebra-2 28.12 

English-1 00.00 

English-2 00.00 

EngHsh-3 11.86 

English-4 14.90 

History! 8.33 

History-2 10.71 

General Science-1 13.72 

Bookkeeping-1 6.66 

Bookkeeping-2 8.57 

Latin-l 8.33 

Latin-2 00.00 

German-1 11.76 

German-2 9.09 

Geoinetry-3 33.33 

Physiology-1 ..„.,„...„ 8.89 











Condi- 


Incom- 


G 


F 


75 


Failed 


tioned 


plete 


% 


% 


% 


% 


% 


% 


28.36 


34.75 


3.56 


9.22 


2.83 


00.00 


31.25 


15.63 


12.50 


12.50 


00.00 


00.00 


37.97 


43.41 


6.20 


6.20 


4.66 


1.55 


28.86 


36.53 


13.46 


5.77 


9.62 


5.77 


44.06 


35.58 


8.48 


00.00 


00.00 


00.00 


42.55 


36.16 


2.13 


2.13 


2.13 


00.00 


48.33 


21.67 


5.00 


11.66 


3.33 


1.66 


46.44 


25.00 


10.71 


00.00 


3.57 


.3.57 


22.72 


31.81 


4.54 


13.72 


9.09 


4.54 


36.67 


23.33 


1.66 


15.00 


00.00 


16.67 


31.42 


37.14 


00.00 


2.86 


00.00 


20.00 


37.50 


33.33 


4.17 


12.50 


4.17 


00.00 


25.00 


23.00 


00.00 


50.00 


00.00 


00.00 


31.37 


37.26 


5.88 


13.73 


00.00 


00.00 


21.21 


42.42 


12.12 


15.16 


00.00 


00.00 


16.67 


16.67 


8.33 


00.00 


00.00 


25.00 


28.89 


37.78 


8.89 


11.11 


00.00 


4.44 



262 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

Table XXXVI shows the efficiency of the industrial train- 
ing of the Union School as evidenced in the cases of nine boys 
(only one being" a graduate) who during the summer of 1915 
were given positions with responsible firms in the city. 

TABLE XXXVI 

Wages earned by boys during the summer of 1915, from their ex- 
perience in Union School machine shop. 



F. 

H. 
A. 


Hesseltine 

DuBois 
Vis 
Coper 
DeBoer 


Given J^year on appren- 
ticeship 

$15.00 per week 

$10.00 per week 

$10.00 per week 

Given 1 year on appren- 
ticeship 

$15.00 per week 

$13.00 per week 

$15.00 per week 
$9.00 per week 


Baldwin & Tuthill 

Fox Machine Company. 
In his father's machine shop. 
Wilmarth & Morman 
Fox Machine Company. 


P. 

I, 
J. 


Smith 

VanderMale 
, Bildson 
Rindal 


Wilmarth & Morman. 
United Motor Truck Co. 
Republic Truck Company. 
Waddell Manufacturing Co. 



A third test of the efficiency and adaptability of a school sys- 
tem is found in the percentage of pupils that are retained in the 
schools throughout the entire course as planned. The following 
table seeks to indicate the situation in Grand Rapids. 



TABLE XXXVII 

Showing the number of teachers in whose classes the elimination of 
pupils between September 1915 and February 1916 lay between certain 
given percentages. 

Number of 
Teachers 

Not Number of Teachers Eliminating 

SCHOOL Reporting 0% 1—5% 6—10% 11—15% Over 15% 

Central :. 1 7 17 19 4 

Union 6 19 9.4 1 

South 4 15 11 2 3 

Junior 11 7 5 6 4 

Totals 22 48 42 31 12 

Percentages 14.2 30.9 27.1 20.0 7.8 

Median loss between 6% and 10%. 

Table XXXVII is to be interpreted thus: Seven teachers at 
the Central High School last semester (Sept. 1915-Jan. 1916) 
permanently eliminated from their classes between one and five 
per cent of their pupils ; seventeen eliminated between six and ten 
per cent ; nineteen eliminated between eleven and fifteen per cent ; 
and four eliminated more than fifteen per cent. The median loss 
is between six and ten per cent, not an unusually large ratio when 
all eliminating factors are taken into account. 

Table XXXVIII shows that as compared with fourteen other 
typical cities of the United States the percentage of pupils in 
Grand Rapids who are retained in the school system until the 
twelfth or graduating grade is reached is that of the median 
group. 



SECONDARY SCHOOLS 263 

TABLE XXXVIII 

Showing percentage of the total high-school enrollment in the gradu- 
ating class for Grand Rapids and fourteen typical cities. 

High School Percentage of Pupils 
CITY Enrollment in Graduating Class 

Paterson, N. J 2400 6.5 

Richmond, Va - 2360 7.4 

Syracuse, N. Y - 2838 7.5 

Nashville, Tenn 1500 9.5 

Fall River, Mass 1536 12.0 

Worcester, Mass 3945 12.0 

Trenton, N. J 1384 13.0 

Omaha, Neb 3000 13.0 

Grand Rapids, Mich 2254 13.2 

Reading, Pa. .._ 1575 15.0 

New Bedford, Conn - 1200 " 15.5 

Columbus, Ohio 4228 15.8 

New Haven, Conn 3300 16.3 

Des Moines, Iowa - 3115 16.3 

Spokane, Wash 3500 18.0 

Median: Approximately 13.5%. 

A still further test of the efficiency of the work of the Grand 
Rapids high schools is seen in the records maintained by the 
graduates of these schools during their first semester's residence 
in colleges and universtties. During the past four years Central 
High School has graduated 772 students and Union High School 
267. During these same four years, 387 of the graduates of the 
Central High School and 80 of the graduates of the Union High 
School entered higher institutions of learning. That is, 50% of 
Central graduates, and 30% of Union graduates have entered 
colleges, being 44.94% of all graduates of the two schools. This 
per cent compares very favorably with those of other school 
systems as is shown b)^ the accompanying table. 

TABLE XXXIX 

Showing the percentage of graduates who have entered college dur- 
ing the last four years from the high schools of Grand Rapids and nine 
other cities. 

Percentage 
CITY of Graduates 

New Haven, Conn 10% 

Nashville, Tenn 20% 

Fall River, Mass 25% 

Worcester, Mass 35% 

New Bedford, Conn - 38% 

Grand Rapids. Mich 44.94% 

Des Moines, Iowa 45% 

Scranton, Pa - 50% 

Columbus, Ohio 60% 

Spokane, Wash 75% 

One hundred and twenty students who have graduated from 
the Grand Rapids high schools (108 from Central and 12 from 
Union) have entered the University of Michigan during the past 
six years. The records they have made during the first semester 
of their freshman year is given in the subjoined table. 



264 



SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 



TABLE XL 

Showing the academic record sustained by the graduates of two 
Grand Rapids high schools during the first semester of their attendance 
at the University of Michigan. 

CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES 



No. 
Year Entered 


No, with 
no Grade 
Below C 


No. with 

One Grade 

or More 

Below C 


No. 
Warned 


No. Dis^ 
missed 


No. 
Withdraw 


1910 16 

1911 24 

1912 14 

1913 20 

1914 16 

1915 18 
Totals 108 
Percentages 


10 
22 
12 
13 
12 
7 
76 
70.4 


4 
2 
2 
4 
3 
4 
19 
17.5 






2 

1 

7 

10 

9.2 











2 


1 


3 
2.8 




UNION HIGH SCHOOL 


GRADUATES 




No. 
Year Entered 


No. with 
no Grade 
Below C 


No. with 

One Grade 

or More 

Below C 


No. 
Warned 


No. Dis- 
missed 


No. 
Withdraw 


1912 1 

1913 

1914 4 

1915 7 
Totals 12 
Percentages 
Grand 
Totals 120 
Grand 
Percentages 


1 


4 
5 
41.6 




1 
2 
3 
25.0 




2 
1 
3 
25.0 











1 

1 
8.3 


81 

67.5 


22 
18.3 


13 

10.8 


. 


4 
3.3 « 



The table reveals the fact that until the fall of 1915 the rec- 
ords sustained at the University w^ere unusually good. Of the 25 
freshman who entered in 1915, however, eight were placed on the 
''warned" list at the end of the first semester. Whether these 
figures indicate that scholarship standards are declining in Grand 
Rapids or are being raised at the University, or that principals in 
recommending pupils to college authorities are not discriminating 
as carefully as formerly, or that an unfortunate combination of 
circumstances last year produced the results mentioned, there 
is of course no positive means of determining. The facts indi- 
cate clearly that a possible weakness of some sort exists, and 
it is therefore incumbent upon principals and their teaching 
staffs to scrutinize with care succeeding evidences of declining 
standards of scholarship and take measures to remove their 
causes. 

Provision for meeting the social needs and interests of the 
pupils of the high schools seems to be varied in kind and ample 
in extent. "Democracy's high school" is an expression that fit- 
tingly characterizes each building, for democracy rightly de- 
mands for her subjects a well-rounded, many-sided education 
and not solely an intellectual training. Such an education is 
being given in Grand Rapids. Pupils are being taught lessons of 



SECONDARY SCHOOLS 265 

individual initiative and independent leadership, of active and in- 
terested group co-operation and participation, and of ready and 
cheerful submission to the collective w^ill when socially expressed. 
This training is being secured through various types of student 
collateral activities — ^debating or forensic clubs, student councils, 
literary societies, study clubs, dramatic associations, musical , 
societies, business organizations, journal clubs, and sim- 
ilar agencies. Moreover, a spirit of happy, genial, enthu- 
siastic activity prevades each school. Kindly sympathy 
and courteous, frank intercouse betw^een pupils and teach- 
ers, and pupils and schoolmates, were conditions that 
were everywhere observable. The one insidious danger that 
may perchance lie hidden in the whole social organization 
of the high school is excess. So long as the collateral 
activities are supervised and controlled as they seem to be at 
present naught, in general, but advantage will emanate from 
them. The gymnasium erected for the recreational activities of 
the pupils of the Central High School ought, in the interest of the 
social life of the pupils attending, no longer to be diverted from 
its original purpose. Only by the use of properly arranged quar- 
ters can the social, athletic and recreational life of the pupils be 
duly administered and safe-guarded. 

One further observation respecting the organization of the 
Central High School is to be noted. This school is planned to 
accommodate only senior high-school and junior-college students. 
At the present time fifty-five ninth-grade pupils are also enrolled 
in the building. Pupils of this grade should be transferred as 
soon as feasible to other buildings where the work may be organ- 
ized in close conformity to their needs. In harmony with such 
action it seems reasonable to suggest that the Board of Education 
modify its policy of basing the salaries of session-room teachers 
on the number of pupils enrolled. The reasons for such a recom- 
mendation are clearly obvious. 

The Junior College 

The educational theory upon which two years advanced work 
beyond graduation from the high school is to be provided by the 
public school system for the young people aspiring to a full col- 
lege training, is a sound educational theory. The provision for 
this work within a central high-school building is also a wise 
provision. There can be no doubt that with facilities for securing 
the first two years of college or university training within the 
school system of one's ow^n city or town a full college career will 
be made possible to many a youth who otherwise, for economic 
reasons, would either be deprived of the privilege entirely or else 



266 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

would have the realization of it so long deferred as to make its 
attainment doubtful, if not altogether improbable. The recorded 
facts relating to the Junior College in Grand Rapids bear out this 
contention in the cases of several individuals. 

Moreover, moral considerations, especially in so far as they 
concern youths of undeveloped social habits and those of un- 
sophisticated experiences, argue to the, same end. For such, a 
year or two years beyond high-school graduation spent in their 
own town and school where they are surrounded by familiar in- 
fluences and associated with teachers and companions who know 
their points of strength and weakness and who can sympathize 
with them in a personal way — for such the junior college serves 
a valuable end. Large colleges and universities situated at some 
distance from home are often not the fittest places for youths who 
are unusually immature, although graduates of secondary 
schools. Persons of this class need a little longer the personal 
protecting care of the parental surroundings. Besides, the ties of 
f^iiily life make the postponement of the severance thereof as 
long as possible exceedingly desirable to many a parent and to 
man}^ a child. When the boy or girl has once broken from the 
family circle, to live even temporarily apart from its direct in- 
fluence, a return thereto in any permanent way is as nearly im- 
possible as it is improbable, and perhaps even undesirable. 

Again, it is good business sense which dictates a plan 
for educating as many as possible of the young men and women 
in their home city. Each young man or woman who secures his 
collegiate training away from Grand Rapids, thereby, for the 
most part, deflects from the city's business resources a sum of 
money equal to the cost of his collegiate training. The junior col- 
lege established locally tends to keep such expenditures in the 
channels of local trade. 

But there are also other good practical reasons why the 
junior college should be perpetuated in Grand Rapids. The 
new Central High School building is erected in the older section 
of the city. Its immediate constituency is composed, to a large 
degree, of the older families, families that are reaching the point 
of retirement from active participation in business affairs. When 
the children who are at present in the schools have graduated, 
relatively few others from the same families will be entering the 
schools to take their places. Moreover, each year sees not only 
a notable expansion in the entire population of Grand Rapids, 
but the encroachment on the old residential district of business 
houses, apartment houses or institutions of a public or quasi- 
public character. In consequence, if the present building is to 
serve the city to its fullest capacity, it must continue to exist as 



SECONDARY SCHOOLS 267 

a school for the entire city and not ever be limited to a school for 
a small section of the city. A junior college fully developed 
v^^ould serve just such an end. The trend of public education 
throughout the entire United States is certainly in the direction 
of including in the public school system the two years' w^ork that 
is for the most part, at the present time, included among the 
offerings of institutions of higher learning. That is, the first and 
second year's work in our universities will certainly, in some 
cases at least, gradually be taken from those institutions and be 
incorporated into the local school systems, thereby making the 
opportiniities for the acquirement of the work of these two years 
much more readily obtainable by all classes of students, and, at 
the same time, relieving the unweildy congestion that is now 
being experienced in most of the larger universities. There can 
be no question that the junior-college movement is upon us. It is 
being developed in all portions of the land from California to 
Massachusetts. Grand Rapids, therefore, in making provision 
for such an extension of its public-school work is in entire har- 
mony with the prevailing theory and practice of the best educa- 
tional movement of the day. 

The present Junior College, however, which was opened 
in Grand Rapids with much eclat in 1914 and seemed for one 
year to be developing a momentum and an influence that would 
cause it to be firmly established as an integral part of the Grand 
Rapids school system, is not meeting either the ideals or the 
conditions that can rightly be demanded of it. Instead of gaining 
in strength and prestige, it is dwindling and waning in power and 
influence. Instead of increasing in numbers of students, it is 
actually diminishing in numbers. This year it is very obviously 
passing through a critical period. Twelve months ago it enrolled 
42 students. This year it has attained a maximum of only 37 
members and these have been depleted in numbers for one reason 
or another, until at present (April, 1916), only 22 are in actual 
attendance. The size of classes is in consequence necessarily 
small — too small, indeed, in several cases, to make the continu- 
ance economically justifiable to the taxpayers. It is undoubtedly 
true that small sections must for sometime be the rule rather 
than the exception in any newly established junior college which 
the city might provide. Moreover, there is both psychological 
and practical justification for having classes in college work con- 
siderably smaller than those in secondary work. There is, how- 
ever, a minimum below which the public-school system may not 
continue to organize courses. The following figures give the pre- 
sent enrollment in the several classes : 

English: now enrolled, 17; last semester, 22. History: now 



268 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

enrolled, 9: last semester, 13. German : now enrolled, 8; last sem- 
ester, 9. Mathematics : now enrolled, 7 ; last semester, 12. Bio- 
logy : now enrolled, 8 ; last semester, 8. Physics : now enrolled, 6 ; 
last semester, 8. Moreover, when we consider that, as the work 
is organized in Grand Rapids, the regular teachers of the high 
school are given charge of the work in the Junior College and 
therefore excused from two class periods in the high school for 
each class period which is carried on in the Junior College, it 
again is perfectly apparent that economic reasons will demand 
that class sections shall not be imduly small. 

The Junior College in Grand Rapids is in very grave danger 
of dying a premature death. As already indicated above, it is 
an institution that is altogether too worthy of a place in our 
present-day school system to be allowed to die out. In its estab- 
lishment two years ago, the Board of Education of Grand Rapids 
put itself in the forefront of educational progressivehess in the 
state of Michigan, not to say in a goodly portion of the United 
States. To allow the undertaking as it has been inaugurated, to 
pass into oblivion, would be a calamity for Grand Rapids, for the 
state of Michigan and for the cause of progressive education in 
general. 

Wherein, then, lie the elements of weakness and of mena- 
cing dangers, and what agencies and means of correction are 
possible? First, it should be said, the trouble surely aces not 
center in the teaching staff which has been chosen to conduct the 
work of instruction. These persons have been selected with dis- 
crimination. They are eminently fitted for the several positions 
which they occupy. Indeed, it is doubtless fair to allege that be- 
cause of their maturity of years, their somewhat extended periods 
of teaching experience, their personal interest in the young peo- 
ple under their tuition, and their keen sense of responsibility 
for the successful operation of the new plan, the teachers 
who are charged with the conduct of the junior college work in 
Grand Rapids are actuUy giving to the young people under their 
charge a collegiate training that is superior to what could ordin- 
arily be expected from the younger and ultra-academic instruc- 
tors into whose classes freshmen students are commonly placed 
on their entrance into our larger colleges and universities. 

That the intellectual training given in the Grand Rapids 
Junior College is fully up to the standards set by the older col^ 
leges with their four-year courses is fully evidenced by the fol- 
lowing statistics gathered with reference to such students as had 
completed one year's work in the Grand Rapids Junior College 
in 1914-15, and have during the current year, 1915-16, continued 
their collegiate careers in other institutions of higher learning. 



SECONDARY SCHOOLS 269 

Sixteen students are included in this group, the different colleges 
attended by them being seven. The distribution of these students 
is as follows : Oberlin, one ; Notre Dame, one ; Northwestern, 
one; Wisconsin, two; University of Michigan, (engineering) 
two; University of Michigan, (literary), eight. 

By comparing the grades or marks accorded to these sixteen 
students by the teachers in the Junior College in June, 1915, with 
the grades or marks obtained by them at the close of their first 
semester's work in the several older colleges attended by them 
in Februar}'-, 1916, the following table is derived: 

TABLE XLI 

Comparison by subjects of the grades given sixteen students at the 
Grand Rapids Junior College and at various senior-college institutions. 

Junior College Grades Grades Given by Other Colleges 

A's B's C's D's E's Total A's B's C's D's E's Total 

Rhetoric 25900 16 14300 8 

Mathematics 12241 10 01200 3 

History 41301 9 26000 8 

Biology 06300 9 01000 1 

Physics 22010 S 01000 1 

German 22501 10 54100 10 

Total 11 18 22 5 3 59 8 17 6 31 

The above table shows that no grade below C was given to 
any junior-college pupils of Grand Rapids in any senior college 
last semester (so far as pupils continued junior-college work in 
the senior college), that only six pupils received a grade of C, 
while 17 received a grade of B, and 8 a grade of A. 

By comparing the changes in position of pupils in the two 
types of institutions — junior college and senior college — another 
check on the work of the junior college is secured and interesting 
facts are revealed. Table XLII gives these items. Here it is 
seen that only four persons in senior colleges fell below the 
grades given in the junior college, fourteen received precisely 
the same grades, while eleven gained grades above those given 
in the junior college. This is a remarkably good record. 

TABLE XLII 

Relative standing of students who continued in other colleges the 
same subjects they pursued in the Grand Rapids Junior College. 

Falling Below Junior Having Same Grade Having a Higher 

College Grade in as in Junior Grade Than in 

SUBJECTS Same Subject College Junior College 

Rhetoric 2 5 1 

Mathematics 2 

History , 14 2 

Biology 1 

Physics 1 

German 4 6 

Total 4 14 H 



270 



SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RARIDS, MICHIGAN 



If the grades obtained by students in subjects not pursued 
in the junior college but first elected in senior colleges be con- 
sidered, substantiating evidence of the high quality of work done 
in the junior college is obtained. Table XLIII shows the figures. 
Here it is noted that of the twenty-six grades given out, seven 
are A's, five are B's, fourteen are C's, and not one is below C. 
That is, approximately 50% of the grades are what colleges usual- 
ly regard as ejcce//en/ and superior and none is hdow i good. 

TABLE XLIII 

Grades obtained by Grand Rapids Junior College students in sub- 
jects not begun in the Junior College. 

SUBJECT A's B's C's D's E's Total 

Chemistry 3 3 

French 4 12 7 

Spanish 2 2 

Latin 10 1 

Philosophy 2 6 8 

Economics 2 10 3 

Astronomy 2 2 

Totals 7 5 14 26 

By combining all the gi*ades secured — both in the junior 
college and in the various senior colleges— an even better show- 



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DIAGRAM LXIII- 



-Distribution of grades of Grand Rapids Junior College students 
Junior College and in Senior College. 



SECONDARY SCHOOLS 271 

ing is made for the Grand Rapids students. Table XLIV and 
Diagram LXIII make this clear. Of the total number of grades 
{67) secured in Senior Colleges, forty-three, or more than 64.17% 
are superior grades, and only two, or less than 3% are below C, 
or what is regarded as a normally satisfactory grade. 

TABLE XLIV 

Distribution of grades among the sixteen Grand Rapids Junior 
College students entering Senior Colleges in 1915. 

A's B's C's D's E's Total 
Grades given in Grand Rapids Junior College 11 19 2v3 5 4 62 

Grades given in Senior Colleges ., 20 23 22 2 67 

There is only one conclusion that can be drawn from the 
above facts and figures, namely, that the Grand Rapids Junior 
College during its first year of existence did train students, in- 
tellectually and academically speaking at least, to a high degree 
of proficiency. There is no reason to question but that it is 
doing similar work at present. 

On the other hand, an analysis of the concrete situation and 
an observation of the junior college actually at work reveals 
counter-active forces in operation. There is little opportunity 
for, or little realization of, college spirit — that indefinable some- 
thing that leaves its abiding influence on persons even when the 
effects of classroom activities have seemingly passed away for- 
ever. The enrollment in the junior college is too limited, recita- 
tion sections are too small, collegiate interests and activities are 
too curtailed to produce the most friendly emulation and the 
most wholesome stimulation for young people. Members are 
too few to develop an esprit de corps of their own. Surroundings 
are too impersonal to lend themselves to a feeling of proprietor- 
ship, even of partnership. There is little or nothing that the 
junior college students can look upon as their own — as constitu- 
ting a constructive element in their group taken as a group. Not 
only are they housed in the same building with the high-school 
pupils, but their recitation work is carried on in the same class- 
rooms and with the same equipment as that provided the high- 
school pupils. They are denied not only a segregated section of 
the building, but also any room that they may regard as their 
own session or rest-room. No consultation rooms are available 
for them ; no separated portion of the library is devoted to them 
for study or for reference work ; no assembly meetings are possi- 
ble for them. Nor are there facilities for gymnastics, athletics, 
literary and social activities to inspire them -with a sense of 
homogeneity of thought and action. In short, the junior-college 
students are at present, at least to a large degree, an unarticula- 



272 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

tive group of young people, without consistency of organization, 
without definiteness of purpose, without group consciousness, 
and without the material surroundings and equipment that will 
tend to produce these essential elements readily. Values are not 
always determinable in quantitative terms, and it is altogether 
probable that the American colleges have recently committed 
the impious sin of the worship of numbers of students they can 
enroll. Nevertheless, there can be no true college spirit, and 
hence no true college, without a student body of fairly respect- 
able size. What the minimum is none can say with positiveness. 
It seems reasonable to state, however, that a junior college at- 
tached to the public school system in Grand Rapids cannot be 
economically conducted with fewer than one hundred persons 
enrolled. For a year or two at the outset of the undertaking, a 
smaller number may be sufficient to justify the experiment, but 
surely an ideal of two or four hundred students enrolled must be 
expected for the not too remote future. 

It should, therefore, be the first business of the school au- 
thorities to secure an attendance in the junior college to warrant 
not only the continuance of the college, but its gradual expansion. 
This is an age of advertising — of letting prospective interested 
people know what is provided for their needs and of presenting 
the matter to them in an attractive, appealing way. A cam- 
paign of dignified, judicious advertising of the Junior college, not 
only among the citizens of Grand Rapids, but also among the 
residents of suburban towns lying within the western section of 
Michigan, may well prove a wise venture. 

Secondly, in order to make the college truly attractive, the 
Board of Education may very fittingly consider, at least the wis- 
dom of providing for it either a definitely segregated portion 
of the Central building or of some other building, and of en- 
couraging in all appropriate ways the development of a true 
college atmosphere and a true college organization. 

A third factor enters into the future development, organiza- 
tion, and administration of the Junior College in Grand Rapids. 
This is the attitude of the senior college towards it, and the arti- 
culation that can be secured between the junior college on the one 
hand and the senior colleges on the other. In the nature of the 
case, the University of Michigan is the chief standardizing educa- 
tional agency in the state. And it ought so to be. Not only is it an 
integral part of our public school system, but it has, from the 
earliest days to the present, been generally recognized as the 
head and crown of that system. In consequence it would be ex- 
tremely unfortunate, not to say dangerous and disastrous, for 
the Junior College in Grand Rapids to grow up entirely unrelated 



SECONDARY SCHOOLS 273 

and unarticulated with the older and more complete institution, 
the University of Michigan. And yet, right at this point is the 
crux of much of the difficulty respecting economical adminis- 
tration of the junior college. The University has approved the 
experiment Grand Rapids is making, and has agreed to take the 
students w^ho may be trained in the junior college and allov^ them 
credit, hour for hour, for work pursued therein. It has, however, 
steadfastly insisted that the junior-college work shall not only be 
taught by teachers of pronounced superior academic training 
(ultimately to be guaranteed by the collegiate degree of Master 
of Arts or Doctor of Philosophy), but also that the junior-college 
classes shall be segregated absolutely from the classes made 
available in the high school. In other words, the University has 
insisted that precisely the same entrance requirements shall be 
enforced in the Junior College as would be exercised at the 
University itself and that none but high-school graduates, having 
fifteen units of approved work, shall be admitted to junior col- 
lege work. In consequence in several cases small classes cover- 
ing precisely the same field of Avork, though possibly in a slightly 
different manner, have been carried simultaneously by the same 
teacher — one class being scheduled as junior-college w^ork; the 
other as high-school work. This situation is noticeable particu- 
larly in third-year German, in biology, and in history. Moreover, 
since the Board of Education has prescribed a tuition fee of sixty 
dollars for junior college work, whereas similar courses may be 
elected in the high school without an}^ tuition fee whatever, it has 
resulted in a goodly number of young people remaining in school 
as graduate high-school students, rather than as junior college 
students, albeit the University allows but half credit for any dis- 
tinctively high-school work of that kind. 

It not infrequently happens, also, that an individual pupil in 
the high school completes the required work for graduation at 
the end of the first semester, but, for personal reasons, defers tak- 
ing the diploma until the June commencement time. Under the 
present arrangements, such a person is denied the privileges of 
the junior college. And, again, it occasonally happens that a sen- 
ior in the high school has completed thirteen or fourteen of the 
required fifteen units, and has included in these credits all of the 
specific prerequisites for admission to certain junior-college 
courses. For example, attention was called to several cases in 
which seniors had already to their credit four units in English, 
or two units in German, or one unit in history, or science, but 
who, under the rules, were kept from the junior-college classes 
of the same line of work. To admit them to junior-college work 
under the circumstances, would, it is true, be the equivalent of 



274 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

admitting" students with academic conditions — a practice at pre- 
sent condemned by most standard institutions of higher learning. 

Nevertheless, while the junior-college is in its infancy, it is 
the part of justice, not to say wisdom, to surround it with all 
the best possible conditions of growth. Standards of scholarship 
must be maintained, but the employment of good common sense 
in the administration of the agencies designed to secure such 
standards must also be employed. Until the number of students 
enrolled in the junior college makes possible not alone the organ- 
ization of fairly good-sized sections for classroom instruction in 
the various subjects ofifered, but also the differentiation of sec- 
tions to meet the multiplicity of needs that inevitably develop 
under the elective system in schools, considerable freedom seem- 
ingly should be accorded the principal and the. teachers in admin- 
istering the work they seek to offer. Ultimately it should not be 
necessary or possible to place in a class in junior-college German 
I (third year German) a student who has already completed 
four years of work in German in the high school ; nor to group 
together in junior-college Mathematics I, those who have had 
in high school two years, two and a half years, and three years 
of mathematics respectively; nor to admit to junior-college His- 
tory I, those who have had in high school one year's work, tvv^o 
3^ears' work, three years' work, and even four years' work in the 
subject. And yet this is done at present in the Junior College. 

Two of the present class in Junior-College German (third- 
year German) have had four years' work in German in the high 
school; four of the nine at present enrolled in junior-college 
Mediaeval and Modern European History had had European His- 
tory in the high school ; three of the eight members of the junior- 
college Zoology class had carried zoology in the high school ; 
while of the twelve who started junior-college mathematics last 
semester, five had completed seven semesters of high-school 
mathematics, three had completed six semesters and four had 
completed five semesters. Yet all of these persons were pursuing 
junior-college work in classes that also enrolled others whose 
high-school preparation in the several fields was very much less 
than theirs. 

The Junior College, however, is offending in this respect not 
one whit more flagrantly than is the University, of Michigan, 
which sets the standards. Indeed, at the University, the classi- 
fication of students in their work is in many respects even more 
loosely done, and is done on a much larger scale. 

The above conditions are set forth not for the sake of con- 
demning the junior-college organization, and surely not for the 
sake of giving unqualified approval to the methods in vogue at 



SECONDARY SCHOOLS 275 

the University. They are presented in order to show that in 
both institutions the concrete, practical exigencies of circum- 
stances must be taken into account. Particularly in a newly es- 
tablished school like the Grand Rapids Junior College, slight var- 
iations from fixed standards should be permitted without ques- 
tioning, especially when it can be shown that such variations are 
merel}^ technical in character and conduce in no apparent 
manner to weakening the efficiency of the organization and in- 
struction. Here, as elsewhere, the letter of the law killeth, while 
the observance of the spirit tends to keep alive and to develop the 
whole. 

In view of the observations made and the comments offered 
above, the following recommendations are respectfully presented 
to the Board of Education for their consideration : 

First, that the Junior College in connection with the public 
school system of the city be continued on a permanent founda- 
tion, be liberally supported financially and morally, and be per- 
mitted to develop unrestrained by any artificial or technical forms 
of organization and administration. 

Second, that the charge for tuition within the college be re- 
duced to a sum no greater at least than that required at the Uni- 
versity of Michigan, and that consideration be given to the plan 
of eliminating, at a very early date, all tuition fees whatever for 
residents of Grand Rapids, thereby making the junior-college 
work as available and free as high-school work is at present. 

Third, that an understanding be brought about with the 
University of Michigan whereby a somewhat greater liberality 
and flexibility of organization of class work may be secured, to 
the end that a truer classification of pupils pursuing work in spe- 
cified fields may be made, a more economical organization of reci- 
tation sections may be obtained, a greater freedom for the ad- 
justment of individual pupils' interests and needs may be granted, 
and an enhanced stimulation and esprit de corps within the col- 
legiate work may be produced. 

Fourth, that, as soon as feasible, recitation rooms, library 
facilities, office and consultation quarters, separate and distinct 
from those of the high school, be provided. 

Fifth, that as soon as sufficient numbers of students can be 
enrolled, a second year of off'erings be added to the program of 
studies or the curriculum. 

Sixth, that a dignified campaign of advertising be carried on 
throughout the city and state, in order that the public may be ac- 
quainted more fully with the aims, scope, and organization of the 
Junior College. 



276 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

The Teachers 

There are one hundred fifty-five teachers engaged in carry- 
ing on the work of public secondary education in Grand Rapids. 
These are distributed among the four schools as follows : Cen- 
tral, 48; Union, 39; South, 35; Junior, 33. These teachers have 
under their tuition 2,254 pupils, or an average of 14.54 per 
teacher. The usual number of weekly recitation periods assigned 
each person is five, but teachers conducting classes in the junior 
college are given only four high-school sections. Teachers of 
the manual and commercial branches and other work requiring 
little attention outside of class hours are not infrequently as- 
signed six recitation periods. The administrative policies that 
are operating in the arrangements here noted are in accord with 
the best educational theory of the day and call for no comments. 

In establishing the academic qualifications for teachers 
Grand Rapids has wisely set the standards at college graduation 
and a minimum amount of teaching experience for all except 
teachers of the so-called non-academic subjects. The standard 
however is not being administered retroactively so as to elimi- 
nate from the system teachers of long tenure who entered upon 
their work under conditions somewhat different from those 
found today, and it ought not to be so administered. In the 
future, though, it is to be the policy, as avowed by the school 
authorities at present in charge of the work, to enforce the higher 
standards of training in the appointment of all new teachers of 
academic branches both in the junior high schools and in the 
senior high schools. As in the past, teachers of non-academic 
subjects will be required to possess evidences of such special 
training and fitness as the several lines of work may demand. 
The new schedule of salaries recently adopted by the Board 
of Education indicates clearly that the intent is to pay teachers 
sufficiently well to justify the higher professional requirements 
that are being set. Particularly worthy of commendation is the 
rare, though thoroughly equitable, policy recently made eff'ective 
in Grand Rapids in placing teachers of the academic branches in 
the seventh and eighth grades on precisely the same footing, 
respecting training and salary schedules, as the teachers of 
similar subjects in the upper grades of the high school. The 
departmentalization of the work of these grades and the organi- 
zation of them as a part of the secondary school system, make 
it as essential that teachers who are assigned to them shall be as 
thoroughly prepared in the subjects they are to teach and as 
fully conversant with the purposes, problems, and procedures 
of secondary education as it is for teachers of- the upper high- 



SECONDARY SCHOOLS 277 

school grades. Indeed there Is well-established theory for de- 
manding that teachers of the seventh and eighth grades shall in 
every respect be among the strongest teachers of the entire 
school system. The youths attending these two grades are 
usually in the most restless, mischievous, active, curious, and 
alert period of school life. None but teachers of pronounced 
forcefulness of personality and ripeness of sympathy can deal 
with them and their interests successfully. As stated elsewhere 
in this report it is precisely the recognition by educators of the 
peculiar physical, mental, and social traits of boys and girh 
of the late preadolescent age that has led to the reorganization 
of the traditional school system to conform to the demand. But 
no reorganization of system wtihout a corresponding reshaping 
of the standards set for the administration of the system will 
produce the desired results. It is the teacher, after all, who gives 
character and form to any grade or any school. 

In view of the newer pedagogy and the newer psychology 
it is certainly reasonable to expect and demand that the teachers 
who are henceforth placed in charge of youths in the exacting 
transition period marked by the junior high-school grades shall 
possess the following qualifications at least: unusual charm of 
personality and address, broad sympathies gained through much 
contact with the world at large and young people in general, 
several years of active teaching experience, and academic train- 
ing equivalent to that denoted by the Bachelor's degree. In 
short, manly men and womanly women of superior natural and 
acquired traits of character should alone be given positions in 
these grades, and their salaries should be commensurate with 
the qualifications demanded. Grand Rapids is therefore taking 
the wise course in setting for teachers of these grades academic 
requirements equal to those set for teachers of the higher grades. 
It ought very justly to set even higher standards. 

Table XLV shows the training, teaching experience and 
the salary schedule of high-school teachers at present in the 
school system of Grand Rapids. 

Diagrams LXIV, LXV, and LXVI show the same facts in a 
different form. From the table and diagrams it is seen that more 
than fifty per cent of the teachers in the junior and senior high 
schools hold college degrees and that more than forty per cent 
have received normal-school or other special training. In like 
manner the statistics reveal the fact that the largest number of 
teachers are those of considerable school experience, more than 
fifty per cent having been engaged in the work in excess of ten 
years. Salaries, too, are reasonably worthy as salaries go, more 



278 



SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 



than fifty per cent of all the teachers being paid in excess of a 
thousand dollars per year. Table XLVL and Diagram LXVII 
show how the ranges of salaries in Grand Rapids compare with 
those in eleven other cities of the country. 

TABLE XLV 

Record for 1915-16 of the academic training, teaching experience and 
salaries of high-school teachers in the high schools of Grand Rapids. 



Total 
SCHOOLS No. of Teachers 

Central 48 

Union 39 

South 35 

Junior 33 

Totals 155 

4 teachers did not report. 



SCHOOLS Under 5 Years 

Central 5 

Union 6 

South 13 

Junior 10 

Totals 34 

1 teacher did not report. 



TRAINING 




















w 


ithN 


ormal School 


With 




With 




or 


Special Aca- 


A. B. Degree 


A. 


M. Degree 


demic 


Training 


34 




4 








15 


15 




1 








16 


18 













16 


13 




3 








16 


80 




8 








63 


EXPERIENCE 














5-10 Years 


11-20 Years 





ver 


20 Years 


5 




20 








17 


11 




13 








9 


9 




13 











14 




5 








4 


39 




51 








30 



SCHOOLS Under $750 

Central 

Union 4 

South 3 

Junior 4 

Totals 11 

4 teachers did not report 



$750- 

$850 

1 

9 

5 

11 

26 



SALARY 

$851- 
$1000 
2 
6 
7 
9 
24 



$1001- 

$1200 

9 

9 

12 

4 

34 



$1201- 

$1500 

19 

7 

5 

2 

33 



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1.6 

4 

2 

1 
23 



ii^ 



m 



in 



m 



m 



m 



tn 



ii 

ii 



i^ 



32 



iQ 



il 




DIAGRAM LXIV — Showing training of high-school teachers in Grand Rapids. 



280 



SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 



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DIAGRAM LXV — Showing teaching experience, in years, of teachers in the several 
high schools of Grand Rapids. 



SECONDARY SCHOOLS 



281 




DIAGRAM LXVI — Showing range of salaries in the several high schools of Gra 
Rapids, the average range and range for the entire city. 



nd 



282 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

TABLE XLVI 

Comparison of the ranges of salaries in the elementary and high 
schools of Grand Rapids with those of 11 other cities. 

Range in Range in 
CITY Elementary School High School 

Omaha 600-1000 800-1200 

Syracuse 400- 800 550-1700 

Des Moines - 950 850-1400 

Paterson 475-1000 700-1800 

Grand Rapids ' 500-1000 800-1350 

Nashville 400- 700 900-1500 

Spokane 600-1000 1 100-1400 

Toledo - 1000-2000 

New Haven 450- 850 750-2000 

New Bedford 800- 850 800-2200 

Trenton 1000-2500 

Columbus 1600-2500 

Table XLVI and Diagram LXVII show that Grand Rapids 
is considerably below most of the cities with which it is compared 
both in its minimum and maximum limits, particularly for high- 
school teachers. Only three cities have a lower minimum salary 
schedule for high-school teachers, while all but one of the cities 
listed have a much higher maximum limit. If Grand Rapids is 
to continue to secure first-class teachers it must increase its 
salary schedules by several hundred dollars. 

In addition to the training and experience exacted of teach- 
ers previous to their appointment to positions, contemporary 
educational theory and practice demand that there shall be evi- 
dences of continued growth on the part of teachers while in 
service. There are obviously numerous ways in which such 
development may be secured. Attendance at educational meet- 
ings, participation in activities connected with social, philan- 
thropic, religious, and cultural undertakings, private reading and 
study, all carried forward coincident with the school year, are 
some of these. But the long summer vacation periods likewise 
afford opportunity for systematic study that has been fully 
grasped by relatively few persons. The college and university 
summer school has become an established agency in our educa- 
tional administration. Its courses are organized quite largely to 
meet the peculiar needs of teachers of experience. Its term is 
usually scheduled to fit the convenience of public school men and 
women. It exists, in fact, primarily to aid those who aspire to 
grow in service. Foreign and domestic travel, in like manner, 
yield benefits to teachers that are incommensurable. 

While no doubt the best service many a teacher can render 
to herself and her school frequently will come as the result of a 
vacation period spent in complete rest and recreation, it is rea- 
sonable to expect and to demand that occasionally such vacation 
periods shall be spent otherwise. Table XLVII and Diagram 
LXVII I show the manner in which the high-school teachers of 



SECONDARY SCHOOLS 



283 



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284 



SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 



Grand Rapids have spent the summer vacation periods during 
the past six years. 

TABLE XLVII 

Shows the way in which the high-school teachers of Grand Rapids 
have spent the summer vacation periods during the past six years. 



SCHOOL 
Central 


Number 
Traveling 

27 






17 


South 




13 


Junior 




14 


Total" 

SCHOOL 
Central 


Ni 
Att 


71 

umber 
;ending 

24 


South 




21 


Junior 




18 


Total 




90 



Credit is 



SCHOOL 
Central ... 

Union 

South 

Junior 

Total 



TRAVELING 

Number of Average per 

Summers Teacher 

67 2.48 

33 1.94 

23 2.53 

23 1.63 

156 2.19 

*SUMMER SCHOOL WORK 

Number of Average 

Summers Teacher 

49 1.81 

43 1.79 

43 2.04 

39 2.16 

174 1.93 

given for one or more summers thus spent. 
REST AND PLEASURE 

Number of Aggregate Number Average 

Teachers of Summers . Per Teacher 

36 100 2.77 

29 70 2.41 

20 52 2.60 

17 58 3.41 

102 280 2.74 



Average 

for Entire School 

1.39 

.84 

.94 

.69 

1.00 

Average 
Per School 
1.02 
1.10 
1,22 
1.18 
1.12 



Average 
for Entire School 
2.08 
1.79 
1.48 
1.76 
1.80 



These statistics reveal the following; 



facts : 



Seventy-one teachers have spent an aggregate of 156 vacation 
periods in travel ; ninety have attended college, university or 
other summer schools for a total of 174 terms; 102 have devoted 
an aggregate of 280 summer vacation periods exclusively to rest 
and pleasure. Put into the form of averages the following re- 
sults are obtained, namely : The typical high-school teacher in 
Grand Rapids has employed the last six vacation periods thus : 

Travel 1.00 

Summer School : 1.12 

Rest and pleasure exclusively 1.80 

Unspecified (probably mostly in rest) 2.08 

Total , - 6.00 

The degree to which specialization of work is carried in 
the schools is shown by the accompanying table and Diagrams 
LXIX and LXX. 

TABLE XLVIII 
Departmentalization of work in the high schools of Grand Rapids. 



SCHOOL 
Central .... 

Union 

South 

Junior 

Totals 

Percentages 



Teachers 

Not Reporting 

3 

2 

5 



10 

6.5 



One 

10 
6 
8 
7 

31 
20.0 



No. of Teachers Teaching Subjects as FoUow^s 



Median: Between two and three. 



Two 
13 
10 
4 
10 
37 
23.9 



Three 

14 

11 

8 

7 

40 

25.8 



Four 
6 
3 
7 
6 
22 
14.2 



Five 

1 

7 

3 

1 
12 
7.7 



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1 
1 

.65 



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1 


1 
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1.3 



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DIAGRAM LXVIII— Showing the 
Rapids have spent 



manner in which high-school teachers of Grand 
the last six summer vacations, 



286 



SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RARJDS, MICHIGAN 



More than sixty-nine per cent of all the teachers have not to 
exceed three separate subjects to prepare and teach daily, the 
median being somewhat less than three. The showing- is there- 
fore good, albeit there is always a danger of over-specialization 
as well as under-specialization in conducting school work. 

The amount of time teachers spend daily in preparing for 
their duties is one test of merit and efficiency, though surely not 
an absolute test. Obviously persons whose work lies in a single 
limited field, or who are assigned several class sections of the 
same course, or who teach expressional subjects only, require for 
outside preparation less time than teachers of other branches. 
Table XLIX and Diagrams LXXI and LXXII show the varia- 
tions in this time. The mode seems to be between an hour and a 
half and two hours; the median is the same; while the range is 



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SECONDARY SCHOOLS 



287 



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1 


i 1 


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-A\W-%A L-^ 



DIAGRAM LXX — Showing the range of different class subjects 
teachers of the Junior and Senior High Schools. 



taught daily by the 



TABLE XLIX 

Showing the number of minutes teachers spend daily in preparing 
their school work. 

Number of Teachers Spending Number of 
^^^ ^_ Minutes Indicated in Preparing Work Not Re- 

SCHOOL Under 30 30-60 61-90 91-120 121-200 Over 200 porting 

Central 1 5 12 14 8 2 6 

Union 4 10 12 7 1 5 

South 10 5 7 11 2 

Junior 1 7 7 7 10 1 

Totals 2 26 34 40 36 6 11 

Percentage 1.3 16.8 21.9 25.8 23.2 3.9 7.1 

Median: Between 91 and 120 minutes. 



288 



SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 



from less than 30 minutes to more than 200 minutes. Speaking 
generally, the time given by teachers to the preparation of their 
daily work seems reasonable. 

Conducting classroom exercises is, after all, but part of a 
teacher's daily routine of work. Hall duty, session-room duty, 
assisting pupils after school to make up lost work, assisting with 
student collateral activities, attending-- to minor cases of disci- 
pline — all these demand an added portion of a teacher's energy 
and time. Table L and Diagram LXXITI indicate the range, 




DIAGRAM LXXI — Showing time spent by teachers preparing work. 



SECONDARY SCHOOLS 



289 




DIAGRAM LXXII — Showing the range in time spent by teachers daily in preparation 

of school work. 

in minutes, devoted by teachers to these tasks. From these it is 
to be noted that few teachers devote less than an hour per day 
to such work, whereas the median lies between an hour and an 
hour and a half. 

TABLE L 

Range of time spent daily by high-school teachers on duties other 
than class recitations. 



SCHOOL 
Central .... 

Union 

South 

Junior 

Totals 



Number of Teachers Spending Minutes Indicated Not 

on Duties Other Than Class Recitation Answering, 



Under 30 30-60 

2 11 

2 9 

9 

14 

4 43 



Percentage 2.6 27.7 

Median : Sixty to ninety minutes. 



61-90 

6 

8 

10 

4 

28 

18.1 



91-120 121-200 Over 200 or None 



34 
21.9 



6 

7 

5 

6 

24 

15.5 



6 8 
1 3 
3 
1 

7 15 
4.5 9.1 



290 



SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 



A teacher's efficiency and worth must finally be judged by 
the character and quality of the results attained by her. School 
results, however, are difficult of computation. The school pro- 
duct is a human product and none can compute in mathematical 
terms the teacher's influence in shaping ideals, attitudes, thought 
processes, reactions and success in human life. Only approxi- 
mate conclusions can be drawn. It is therefore a mistaken policy 
which seeks to rank a teacher solely by reason of the term marks 
she gives out. Nevertheless a high percentage of pupil failures 
in any school subject is evidence which tends to show that one 
or more of several unfortunate and unjustifiable conditions exist. 




DIAGRAM LXXIII — Showing range of time high-school teachers spend daily on 
duties other than class recitations. 



SECONDARY SCHOOLS 291 

These are : faulty organizations of the subject-matter, or improper 
classification of pupils, or unwarranted standards of attainment 
as set by the teacher, or excessively poor teaching. When a course 
of study has been the product of careful reflective analysis, when 
it has stood the test of trial for years, both in a given school and 
in schools of like character throughout the land, an abnormally 
large percentage of failures each term is a condition that pretty 
definitely points to the teacher as the responsible and unjustifi- 
able cause thereof. What shall be the normal percentage of non- 
promotions for any given class can not of course be stated with 
positiveness. The law of probability would suggest not to ex- 
ceed ten per cent. As the upper grades of the high school are 
reached even this percentage is regarded as being too large. Cer- 
tain it is that non-promotions amounting repeatedly to twenty- 
twenty-five and thirty per cent or more of the class are unjusti- 
fiable and should be stopped by the administrative officers. 
Either better teaching should be insisted upon or modified stand- 
ards of attainment should be established. To permit the con- 
tinuance of such practices is to swell the amount of school mor- 
tality beyond all reasonable limits. Education which is growth 
does not result from repeated failure but from repeated successes. 
The following tables and diagrams reveal in part the situa- 
tion as it exists in Grand Rapids. A study of these tables and 
diagrams evinces the fact that there is considerable need of 
bringing to the consciences of teachers of certain branches the 
necessity for rather radical reforms on their part. 

TABLE LI 

Showing the number of high-school teachers who at the close of 

last semester (Sept. 1915-Jan. 1916) promoted stated percentages of 
pupils. 

Teachers Not 

SCHOOL Reporting Number of Teachers Promoting 

Under 70% 70-80% 81-90% 91-95% 96-99% 100% 

Central 3 2 6 27 7 3 

Union 4 1 2 10 8 9 5 

South 3 2 711 2 2 8 

Junior 7 2 3 12 1 4 4 

Totals 17 7 18 60 18 18 17 

Percentages 10.9 4.5 11.6 38.7 11.6 11.6 10.9 

Median: Between 81 and 90%. 

TABLE LII 
Showing the number of high-school teachers who failed certain 
percentages of students last semester. 

Teachers Not 
SCHOOL Reporting Number of Teachers Failing: Over 

0% 1-5% 6-10% 11-15%, 16-20%, 21-30% 30% 

Central 5 1 15 15 9 2 1 

Union 5 7 14 9 3 1 

South 49770521 

Junior 74873400 

Totals 21 21 44 38 15 11 4 1 

Percentages 13.6 13.6 28.4 24.5 9.1 7.1 2.6 .6 

Median: Between 6-10%. 



292 



SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 




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294 



SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS. MICHIGAN 



The following tables and diagrams show the percentages of 
pupils who were failed, conditioned, and promoted by the sever- 
al teachers in the Central High School, Grand Rapids, during 
the four years 1911-1915. The variations not only among the 
several departments but also among the various teachers within 
particular departments are notable. The summarizing table and 
diagram (Table LIII and Diagram LXXVI) are especially in- 
teresting. From these it is to be observed that the general aver- 
age of the entire school for the four years compiled is : Passed, 
83.24%; conditioned, 6.6%; not passed, 10.16%. The depart- 
ment of German has the greatest pupil mortality, only 74.69 per 
cent of all persons electing the subject being given a passing 
mark and 14.76 per cent being failed outright. On the other 
hand, relatively few who have elected work in science have been 
held back from promotions, 91.88 per cent of the pupils pursuing 
the subject having received term marks of "passed". German, 
mathematics and Latin, in the order named, are the only depart- 
ments in which the percentages of pupils "passed" falls below 
the general average of the entire school, and the two depart- 
ments of Latin and German are the only ones in which the per- 
centage of "conditioned" pupils is in excess of that of the general 
average for the entire school. 



7^I^C^•HT•PAvS^SE-D. 



t.MeL.lv«iM 



GiERMAN 



PRENCM FJ aPAMlAH 



r«^A-rwE.rvn.a-^if-,«. 



lAT f»RY 



■flEM&BAi AVFRAfiF 




Pb-k^ Ge-ht • Not • ?Avf.^E-D. 




pErK^ C&.HT- GGHDlTIONErD. 




DIAGRAM LXXVI — Percentage of pupils "passed", "not passed", and "conditioned" 

in the subjects indicated for the years 1911-1915. Central 

High School, Grand Rapids. 



SECONDARY SCHOOLS 



295 



TABLE LIII 

Showing the percentages of marks, by departments, in the Central 
High School of Grand Rapids for the four years, 1911-1915. 

Per Cent Per Cent Per Cent 

SUBJECT Passed Conditioned Not Passed 

English 84.22 6.34 9.44 

Latin 81.17 8.33 10.50 

German 74.69 10.55 14.76 

French and Spanish 87.12 5.97 6.91 

Mathematics 79.75 6.55 13.70 

History 83.88 5.11 11.01 

Science 91.88 -3.39 4.73 

General Average 83.24 6.60 10.16 

In considering individual teachers and their markings it is 
to be noted also that wide variations occur. The following ex- 
treme cases are to be found. 



TABLE LIV 



Percentage of pupils passed and not passed by individual teachers 
in the various high-school subjects at Central High School. 







Teacher's Number 


Per Cent of Per Cent of 


SUBJECT 


(arbitrarily assigned) 


Pupils Passed Pupils Not Passed 


English 






32 


98H 


h 3— 








23 


92- 


6— 








Zl 


93- 


5— 








38 


72- 


20+ 








24 


74H 


h 12+ 








29 


76- 


V 21 


Latin 






17 


80 


10 








20 


80 


10 








22 


81 


11 








19 


74 


16 


German 






61 


59.£ 


23.9 








59 


68.C 


16.7 








62 


79.^ 


^ 9.9 








60 


n.i 


11.3 








56 


71.5 


16.3 


French and 


Spanish 


53 


79.2 


11.8 








55 


93.8 


\ 3.1 








52 


96.] 


1.9 








54 


79.5 


10.8 


Mathematics 






7 


89.^ 


\ 6.4 








2 


69.S 


17.5 








8 


llA 


\ 18.3 








11 


72.2 


20.8 


History 






45 


70.: 


12.4 








44 


79.C 


11.6 








46 


88.2 


8.4 








50 


88.1 


7.6 


Science 






64 


94.C 


5.0 








68 


98.C 


2.0 








69 


"96.^ 


^ 2.0 








70 


98.5 


1.5 








71 


98.5 


1.5 








76 


95.5 


, 0.0 



DIAGRAM LXXVII— Percentage of pupils "passed," ' not passed, and conditioned 

at the Central High School according to departments for the years 1911-1915. 

A— English; B— Latin ; C— German ; D— Spanish and French; b— 

Mathematics ; F — Mathematics for first and second years only ; 

G — History; H — Science. 

A— ENGLISH 



'PB'K^- Cb-HT " Pa^^B-P , 




^K.- Gb-nt -Hot • Pa6^e<d 




f>&K_- C^HT • GoKBITIOHBB, 




t7p 



SECONDARY SCHOOLS 

B— LATIN 
40 60 



297 



tP^Ki Gs^kt ° Not » PA^S'S&a, 



20 



Ml 
52.1 

Ml 
All 



?^B-K_- G^-HT • Go^HBITlOHE>'P< 




C— GERMAN 



P5-K.- Gb-nT-Pasab-b. 



60 



100 



Pb-Kj G^ht-Not-^a^^b-©. 




PE-K:. G^HT • GONPITIONSB. 



298 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

D— SPANISH AND FRENCH 



20 



40 



=PE-K.- GfirHT • Hot • PA^^b-©. 




^ij Chnr ' GoNsiTioHfi-B. 




o 
L_l 



\LM 



E— MATHEMATICS 



PBtK." G^kt ° Hot <' pA^6£rp. 




SECONDARY SCHOOLS 



299 



'Pio.xj G^HT ° GGKprrroN5-p. 



O 2 


4 


P «^o a 


O 10O 


i 










2_ 










3_ 
4^ 












^^ 1 














































































































































































































































16. 


^" 











F— MATHEMATICS (First and Second Years) 



2l. 


2 


P 4. 


6 


B 


lOO 


4- 
5- 
4- 






























' 























IIL 
II 










m 










^" 


li 
14. 
it 






















































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fi 












4_ 
























2_ 












1? 












ii 












1* 
























04. 













300 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 



Pb-Kj Gb-HT" Gohpition&p 




G— HISTORY 



?>&K_' G^NT ' PA^Shd. 




P^K.- Ge^nt • Nor • pA^^iS-^ 




Pe^Xj Ge-kt • GoKBiriOHSD 



SECONDARY SCHOOLS 



301 



H— SCIENCE 



VB-KJ GE-HT ° PA6<3B.D. 



Pe.^- G^-HT-NoT-pA^^a 




M 



PS-K^ GSMT " CoHDlTIOH^D. 



As stated before, a high percentage of failures among stud- 
ents may not necessarily be a cause for criticism of the depart- 
ment or the teacher concerned. On the other hand, such facts 
surely give no valid basis for pride or elation. An unusual 
number of pupils not promoted over a period of four years is 
rather clear evidence that something in the organization or ad- 
ministration of the work needs correcting. Either the material 
studied is improperly selected and graded for the pupils pursuing 
it, or standards of attainment are set unjustifiably high, or peda- 
gogical skill is lacking in the teacher or teachers. There is no 



302 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

virtue in discouraging pupils. Moreover, it must be remembered 
that the public high school today is a cosmopolitan school in 
many senses. No longer are individuals with exceptional liter- 
ary ability and interest alone being admitted as students. No 
longer is college preparation the dominant aim. No longer is 
thoroughness in the sense of complete mastery the accepted 
pedagogical ideal for every high-school course and for every 
high-school pupil pursuing it. Some work is designed chiefly 
to inspire, stimulate and arouse pupils to continued effort within 
the selected field; some is designed solely to yield appreciation 
of values. Teachers in the Central High School, as well as in 
the other schools, will do well to compare their percentages of 
promotions and failures with the averages of their department 
and of the entire school, and to seek to discover and analyze the 
causes that are producing marked variations from common prac- 
tice. 

General Summary 

A. Summary of commendations made in reference to pre- 
vailing condition: 

1. The spirit of co-operation shown by the administrative 
officers and teachers in the conduct of this survey. 

2. The civic pride and spirit that dominate Grand Rapids. 

3. The interest taken by the city in its schools and other 
agencies of culture, and the generous financial support given 
them. 

4. The form of school organization that has been adopted, 
namely the six-six arrangement of the twelve grades with a 
junior college supplementing these. 

5. The freedom accorded administrative officers by the 
Board in applying rules and regulations as exigencies may make 
desirable. 

6. The artistic and serviceable character of the high-school 
buildings recently erected, and the plans for the extensions of 
these buildings. 

7. The policy of providing play and athletic grounds for 
each school. 

8. The organization of recitation periods on the basis of 
sixty minutes each. 

9. The spirit of co-operation and loyalty that exists among 
principals and teachers. 

10. The general form and the desirable definiteness of bul- 
letins and reports that are issued. 

11. The policy of giving each student in the junior high 



SECONDARY SCHOOLS 303 

schools an elementary training in each of four forms of manual 
or domestic arts. 

12. The policy of departing from the traditional uniform 
five-period per week class schedules. 

13. The policy of employing, in the future, none but col- 
lege-bred and professionally trained teachers for all grades above 
the sixth. 

14. The policy of assigning to the several teachers classes in 
the lower and the upper grades of the school, thus minimizing 
the tendency to make invidious distinctions of rank among the 
corps of teachers. 

15. The policy of placing teachers of seventh and eighth- 
grade work in the junior high schools on the same salary sche- 
dules as teachers of the higher grades. 

16. The general policy of providing in varied ways for the 
organization of student collateral activities and the modes of 
control adopted. 

17. The provisions for giving the pupils vocational insight 
and interest. 

18. The scope or range of the program of studies provided 
for the senior high schools. 

19. The spirit of democracy and decorum that prevails in 
the several schools. 

B. Summary of adverse criticisms : 

1. Omission from the school system of day-continuation or 
trade schools. 

2. The uncompleted character of the reorganization of the 
schools on the six-six basis. 

3. Inadequacy and unhygienic condition of the Junior High 
School building. 

4. Misuse of study periods as at present organized. 

5. Inflexibility of administration, particularly for certain 
types of students in the Junior High School. 

. 6. Organization and administration of certain departments 
of work in the Senior High School. 

C. Summary of recommendations : 

1. The establishment of a trade or day-continuation school, 
possibly within the present Junior High School building. 

2. Providing, soon, for additional junior high schools in 
the city. 

3. Re-examining and over-hauling the entire program of 
studies by the administrative and teaching staffs acting co-opera- 
tively. 



304 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

4. Carrying forward a constant series of educational and 
administrative experiments, the checking over of results ob- 
tained, and the continued adoption of modifications that are 
found to be advantageous. 

5. Improvement of the Junior High School building, so as to 
give better sanitary and hygienic conditions, less over-crowding 
of pupils, and adequate facilities for auditorium, shop, gymnastic 
and recreational activities. 

6. The adoption of a long-term building policy for the 
future. 

7. Greater freedom for individual teachers to employ the 
sixty-minute recitation period as exigencies of the occasion dic- 
tate. 

8. More attention by teachers to assignments of lessons 
and to careful, summarizing of class discussions. 

9. The gradual extension of the school day to include eight 
hours to be devoted to intellectual, recreational, and social activi- 
ties. 

10. Provision for sessions of the schools during the sum- 
mer months. 

11. The reorganization, by teachers, of the courses of study, 
particularly of the courses of English, mathematics and history 
of the seventh, eighth and ninth grades. 

12. Allowing credit for one year's successful pursuit of 
foreign language study if the study is then discontinued by the 
pupil for adequate reasons. 

13. Testing the merits of a two-year general language 
course in the seventh and eighth grades. 

14. Continuing the course in general science in the seventh 
or eighth grades and making it available for all pupils. 

15. Allotting the work in physiology to the teachers of 
physical training and general science and withdrawing it from 
the course in reading. 

16. Provision for pupils to elect some commercial work in 
the eighth grade in all the junior high schools and not merely 
at the Union High School. 

17. Testing the feasibility and wisdom of permitting or 
requiring pupils to carry more than twenty-five hours of school 
work — academic, manual, and recreational — per week. 

18. The adoption of the "point" system of recording credits 
in the seventh and eighth grades the same as in the ninth and 
upper grades. 

19. The elimination of the ceremonies of graduation at the 
end of the eighth-grade work. 

20. Consideration, by principals and teachers, of the policy 



SECONDARY SCHOOLS 305 

of segregating boys and girls in recitation sections in certain 
subjects of study. 

21. Requiring that none but college-bred teachers of sev- 
eral years of teaching experience and of unusual personalities 
be assigned to junior high-school teaching positions. 

22. The granting of leaves of ^ absence to teachers at fre- 
quent intervals for the sake of rest and study. 

23. Securing an athletic ground for the South High School 
and making available for pupils of the Central High School the 
gymnasium that is designed for their use. 

24. Allowing school credit for out-of-school work of ap- 
propriate kind. 

25. The gradual expansion of the salary schedules of 
teachers in harmony with the increased cost of living. 

26. The continuation of the present Junior College and 
adequate provision for its maintenance. 

27. The consideration of the feasibility of reducing the 
tuition fee in the Junior College considerably below the present 
fee. 

28. Securing a more definite understanding with the Uni- 
versity of Michigan, whereby, during the next year or two of the 
development of the Junior College, a somewhat more liberal and 
economic classification of pupils within the Junior College may 
be secured. 

29. Providing, as soon as conditions will warrant, segre- 
gated quarters for the junior-college students. 

30. Providing, as soon as numbers of pupils will warrant, a 
second years' offering of the junior-college work. 

31. The carrying on of a dignified campaign of advertising 
for the Junior College and its work. 



CHAPTER XII 

SPECIAL CLASSES OF THE 

PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF 

GRAND RAPIDS 



Charles Scott Berry 



INTRODUCTION 

1. Classes for Retarded Children. 

a. Auxiliary Classes. 

b. Ungraded Classes. 

2. Open Air Classes. 

3. Truant School. 

In partial preparation for this report which is a study of the 
classes for retarded children, the open air classes, and the truant 
school, the writer spent six days in Grand Rapids visiting schools 
and studying conditions. During this period he visited the aux- 
iliary school, all the auxiliary classes, a number of ungraded 
classes, the truant school, and the three open air classes. He 
met the teachers of the auxiliary and ungraded classes and in- 
structed them how to give certain pedagogical tests to their 
pupils. All the pupils in the auxiliary classes and five pupils in 
each of the ungraded classes and the truant school, were given 
these tests. He also met the principals of the elementary schools 
and discussed with them methods of selecting pupils for un- 
graded classes. He distributed to the teachers of the auxiliary 
and the ungraded classes a questionnaire covering important 
points connected with their work and training. He not only 
visited classes and made psychological tests, but he also had 
conferences with some of the prominent citizens not connected 
with the school who are interested in the problems of retard- 
ation. 

Through the courtesy of Mr. W. A. Greeson, superintendent 
of schools, and Mrs. Cordelia Creswell, supervisor of special 



SPECIAL CLASSES OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS 307 

classes, the writer was given every opportunity to cover as 
much ground as possible in the limited time at his disposal. And 
he wishes to express his appreciation, not only of the generous 
assistance rendered him by Supt. Greeson and Mrs. Creswell, but 
also his appreciation of the kind reception given him by the 
principals and teachers who ungrudgingly assisted him in every 
way possible. 

1. Class for Retarded Pupils 

Grand Rapids has a larger percentage of its elementary- 
school pupils enrolled in special classes for retarded children 
than has New York City, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Chicago, Cleve- 
land, or Detroit. This does not mean that Grand Rapids has a 
larger percentage of backward and feeble-minded children than 
any of the cities named, for we have no good reason to think such 
is the case ; but it means rather that the superintendent of the 
Grand Rapids schools has for some years been making a special 
study of how to reduce the amount of retardation in the ele- 
mentary schools and the special class for retarded children has 
been developed as one means to that end. At the present time 
almost five per cent of the pupils enrolled in the elementary 
schools of Grand Rapids are in classes for retarded children. 
The growth in the number of pupils enrolled in these classes 
over a period of eight years is shown in Table LV. 



Growth in 

School Year 
1907-1908 

1908-1909 - 


enrollment 

Enrc 
Spec 


TABLE LV 
in special classes during eight 

)llment in Enrollment in Pei 
ial Classes Elementary Schools in 
94 14139 

156 14172 

280 14435 

510 14661 

568 14688 

790 15373 

790 15582 

754 15519 


years. 

r Cent of Pupils 
special Classes 
0.67 
1.10 


1909-1910 






1.94 


1910-1911 






3.47 


1911-1912 






3.87 


1912-1913 . 






5.13 


1913-1914 .. 






5.07 


1914-1915 .. 






4.86 



In the first column is given the school year; in the second 
column the total enrollment in the special classes for retarded 
pupils ; in the third column the total enrollment in the public 
elementary schools ; and in the last column the percentage the en- 
rollment in the special classes is of the total enrollment in the 
elementary schools. 

From Table LV we see that the enrollment in the special 
classes for retarded children has increased from less than one 



308 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

per cent of the enrollment in 1907-1908 to almost five per cent in 
1914-1915. 

The general policy of the superintendent has been to place 
in these special classes principally children retarded two years or 
more ; that is, the pupils who are two years or more over age for 
their grade. The increase over a period of five years in the per- 
centage of pupils two years or more over age enrolled in these 
classes is shown in Table LVI. 

TABLE LVI 

Increase during five years in percentage of pupils two years or more 
over age enrolled in special classes. 

No. Total No. 

in Kindergarten No. in in Grades and Per Cent in 

School Year and Grades Special Classes Special Classes Special Classes 

1910-1911 676 510 1186 42.9 

1911-1912 529 568 1097 51.7 

1912-1913 456 790 1246 63.2 

1913-1914 352 790 1142 69.3 

1914-1915 261 754 1015 74.6 

Table LVI gives the number of pupils in the public ele- 
mentary schools of Grand Rapids two years or more over age, 
and the percentage of this number in special classes for retarded 
children (auxiliary and ungraded classes). 

In 1910-1911 about forty-three per cent of the pupils two 
years or more over age were enrolled in special classes ; in 1914- 
1915 almost seventy-five per cent are to be found in these classes. 

In forming these special classes the superintendent had two 
objects in view; first, to reduce the amount of retardation in the 
regular grades by removing those who blocked the progress of 
the normal children ; and, second, to give the retarded children 
the training and instruction suited to their needs. Let us con- 
sider, first, to what extent he has been successful in reducing the 
retardation in the schools by the formation of these classes. If 
the special class is effective, we should expect to find each year 
a smaller percentage of the total enrollment retarded. Unfort- 
unately we cannot go back of the year 1910-1911 because a differ- 
ent method of reckoning retardation was used prior to that date. 
In Table LVII is given for a period of five years the percentage 
of pupils retarded one year, two years or more, as well as the 
total percentage retarded. 

TABLE LVII 
Retardation in the elementary schools. 

Per Cent Retarded Per Cent Retarded Total Per Cent 

School Year One Year Two Years or More Retarded 

1910-1911 8.19 8.07 16.26 

1911-1912 7.13 7.46 14.59 

1912-1913 6.55 8.10 14.65 

1913-1914 5.15 7.33 12.48 

1914-1915 4.58 6.55 11.13 



SPECIAL CLASSES OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS 309 

In 1910-1911 the total number retarded was over sixteen per 
cent of the elementary school enrollment; in 1914-1915 it had 
fallen to about eleven per cent. That is, during this period of 
five years the retardation has decreased over thirty-one per cent. 
Doubtless other factors besides the special class have contributed 
in bringing about this reduction in retardation, but without 
question the special class has played an important part. 

In this connection it is interesting to note that during the 
period there has been a comparatively slight reduction in the 
total percentage of pupils two years or more over age. In 1910-11 
eight and seven-hundreths per cent of the total enrollment were 
retarded two years or more; in 1914-1915 it had only dropped to 
six and fifty-five hundreths per cent, a reduction of nineteen per 
cent; but the number retarded one year dropped from eight and 
nineteen hundreths per cent of the enrollment in 1910-1911 to 
four and fifty-eight hundredths per cent in 1914-1915, a reduction 
of forty-four per cent. In other words, the reduction during this 
period in the percentage of pupils retarded one year was more 
than twice as great as the reduction in the percentage of pupils 
retarded two years or more. It is true that we have not consid- 
ered one factor that would make some difference and that is, the 
fact that some pupils are put into the special classes who are not 
retarded two years or more, and we have estimated all the pupils 
in the special classes to be two years or more over age. How- 
ever, this factor alone could not possibly account for the differ- 
ence. 

In estimating retardation (and our discussion thus far has 
been based on the figures taken from the reports) the superin- 
tendent has considered at age all pupils in the first grade eight 
years old, in the second nine, in the third ten, and so on. This 
is making a very liberal allowance as most of the children enter 
the first grade when six years of age. Let us consider retarded 
all children in the first grade eight years old, in the second nine, 
in the third ten, and so on, in order that we may determine what 
changes have taken place in this group in the five years under 
discussion. The results are given in Table LVIII. 

TABLE LVIII 

Number of pupils retarded one year by a different method of esti- 
mating retardation. 

School Year Per Cent Retarded One Year 

1910-1911 : 18.5 

1911-1912 15.8 

1912-1913 14.4 

1913-1914 12.7 

1914-1915 - 12.4 

All the pupils in this table are at age by the superintendent's 
method of estimating retardation. 



310 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

In 1910-1911 eighteen and five-tenths per cent were retarded 
one year (using our less liberal standard of reckoning retarda- 
tion) but by 1914-1915 this had fallen to twelve and four-tenths 
per cent, a reduction of about one-third. These figures in con- 
nection with the figures given in Table LVII seem to indicate 
that the special class, at least as it is at present organized, is 
most effective, not in reducing retardation amounting to two 
years or more, but rather in reducing the retardation of one 
year or less. This fact seems to indicate that pupils who are so 
dull as to lose two years or more during the first three or four 
years of school life cannot keep the pace set by the normal child 
even though the regular teacher does give them unusual atten- 
tion. The chief value accrues to the child of average or slightly 
less than average ability who can make his grade if he receives 
a little extra help from the teacher. In other words, a policy 
that would place in the special class those children who cannot 
complete the first three or four grades without repeating twice 
or oftener is sound, for most of these pupils will not be able to 
keep up with the normal pupils no matter how much assistance 
they may receive. They are destined to march more slowly 
than their normal fellows, simply because they have less ability. 

But is it wise to allow a child to fail in two years' work be- 
fore he is placed in a special class? While we believe that a 
policy that looks to placing in special classes all those children 
who if left in the regular grades would lose two years or more is 
sound, yet that is quite a diflferent matter from waiting until the 
child has lost his two years before he is placed in the special class. 
The present policy of allowing the child to fail in two or three 
years' work before he is placed in the special class where he be- 
longs is not using that class to best advantage as a means of 
reducing retardation in the regular grades, for the retarded child 
has been blocking the progress of the normal children for several 
years before he is finally put into the special class. A study of 
repetition in the grades during the five-year period indicated in 
Table LVIII shows that during this time the greatest reduction 
in repetition has been in the third and fourth grades, not in the 
first and second grades, nor in the grammar grades. This seems 
to indicate that relief comes to the teachers of the third and 
fourth grades through the removal of the special-class pupils. 
Yet it is the first and second grades that stand most in need of 
relief. During the first semester of 1915-1916 the percentage of 
repeaters in the first and second grades of the Grand Rapids 
schools was greater than in any other two grades. Furtherm^ore 
the primary teachers have a larger number of pupils to teach 
than do the teachers of the grammar grades. In 1914-1915 the 



SPECIAL CLASSES OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS 311 

number of pupils per teacher based on the average belonging, was 
for the grammar grades twenty-seven and two tenths and for the 
primary grades thirty-two and three tenths. That is, the pri- 
mary teachers have on the average five more pupils per teacher 
than the teachers of the grammar grades. 

Not only do the teachers of the first and second grades have 
more pupils than the teachers of the higher grades but among 
these pupils are to be found most of the backward and defective 
children, for these children are commonly not put into the spe- 
cial class until they have reached the third grade. In other 
words, the special class, one function of which is to reduce the 
repetition in the regular grades, is not helping at all where help 
is most needed, in the first and second grades. 

Why not follow the plan of selecting the pupils for the 
special class from the children who have failed in the first half 
of the first grade's work? If this method of selection were 
adopted, the first and second-grade teachers would get relief 
at the earliest possible period. By this method of selection the 
special class would become most effective in reducing retardation 
where reduction is most desirable; viz., in the first and second 
grades. 

From the standpoint of the good of the backward child an 
early selection is highly advisable. If he is allowed to fail two 
or three times before he is put into the special class he has be- 
come schooled in failure before he gets even a fair chance, for 
surely he has not had a fair chance if he has been expected to 
do more than his ability enables him to do. On the other hand, 
if failure in the first term's work in the first grade was due to 
poor health, or poor teaching, the child now has an opportunity 
to make good as he is given exceptional opportunities, and, if 
he makes good, he is returned to his regular grade. But if he 
shows he has not the ability to keep up with the normal child, 
even though under an expert teacher, he is evidently where he 
belongs. From every point of view it is advisable to put a child 
into a special class, or give him special assistance, as soon as he 
has shown that he stands in need of such assistance. And if a 
child fails in the first half of his first grade's work, that fact in 
itself is conclusive evidence that his case needs investigation — 
that he needs help of some kind. 

a. Auxiliary Classes 

(1) History and Organization. 

The classes for retarded children of the public schools 
of Grand Rapids are divided into auxiliary and ungraded classes. 



312 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

The auxiliary classes are for the mentally defective children, 
while the ungraded classes provide for the backward pupils. 

The first auxiliary class was started in the summer of 1910. 
In the fall of that year the auxiliary school consisting of four 
classes of twelve pupils each was organized. Since that time 
eight other auxiliary classes have been organized in different 
parts of the city in connection with the regular public schools. 
The auxiliary school which is located in a separate building is 
organized on the departmental plan, having four departments — 
kindergarten, academic, manual training, and domestic science. 

The increase in the number enrolled in these classes since 
the organization of the auxiliary school in 1910 is shown in 
Table LIX. 

TABLE LIX 

Increase in number of pupils in auxiliary classes over a period of 
five years. 
School Year ■ No. in Auxiliary Classes 

1910-1911 68 

1911-1912 70 

1912-1913 96 

1913-1914 93 

1914-1915 ISO 

In the five years of the existence of the auxiliary classes tlie 
enrollment has more than doubled until at the present time it is 
equal to almost one per cent of the total enrollment of different 
pupils in the elementary schools. 

In Table LX is given the range in mental and chronological 
ages that is to be found in each of the auxiliary classes including 
the auxiliary school. 

TABLE LX 

Range in chronological and mental ages of pupils enrolled in auxi- 
liary classes and auxiliary school. 

SCHOOL C. Age M. Age 

Auxiliary 8-18 5.0-10.0 inc. 

Buchanan 7-12 6.2- 8.2 

Coldbrook 9-16 8.0-10.2 

Diamond -. 9-15 6.0- 9.8 

Franklin 8-13 5.2-10.6 

Jefferson 7-14 6.2- 8.8 

Junior High 12-15 8.8-11.4 

Straight 7-11 4.0- 9.2 

Widdicomb 9-15 6.0- 9.2 

C. Age, Chronological Age ; M. Age, Mental Age. 

This table shows that the auxiliary classes although situated 
in different parts of the city are much alike in respect to the range 
chronological and mental ages, with the exception of the Junior 
High auxiliary class which is made up of high grade boys and 
girls ranging in mental age from 8.8 to 11.4 years and in chron- 



SPECIAL CLASSES OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS 313 

ological age from 12 to 15. Some of the high grade boys and girls 
of the other auxiliary classes were transferred to the Junior High 
class, which is centrally located, in order that they might be 
given the special training suitable to their needs. 

(2) Selection of Pupils 

The children who are put into the auxiliary classes are taken 
from the grades and from the classes-for backward children. The 
principal commonly notifies the supervisor of special classes that 
she has some children in her school that she would like to have 
examined with the view of ptitting them into the auxiliary class if 
they are found to be mentally defective. The supervisor ex- 
amines these children by means of psychological tests and if they 
are found to be so retarded mentally that there is little hope of 
their ever catching up with the normal child, they are assigned 
to the auxiliary class. Occasionally a child is put into the auxil- 
iary class to receive some extra help in order that he may catch 
up with his normal fellows and return to his grade, but common- 
ly only pupils that are considered to be mentally defective are 
put into these classes. Children are also brought to the super- 
visor by teachers and parents for examination at the psychologi- 
cal clinic. These children upon examination may be recommend- 
ed for the auxiliary class. 

It is a significant fact that these children at the time they 
are given the psychological examination and recommended 
for the auxiliary class are not given a medical examination. But 
after they have been assigned to the auxiliary class the teacher 
of that class is supposed to take them to a physician for exam- 
ination sometime during the year. Commonly the physicians do- 
nate their services as the board of education has made no provi- 
sion for the medical examination of these children. In the judg- 
ment of the writer this is a very serious mistake. No child 
should be assigned to an auxiliary class without first having re- 
ceived a careful medical examination. Many of these children 
are suffering from physical defects that only the physician can 
readily detect. No matter how carefully the psychological ex- 
amination may be made it alone is not sufficient. Much mental 
retardation is due to physical causes which may be renioved, but 
only the physician, not the psychologist, is capable of making the 
physical examination. It is a sad waste for a teacher to spend 
energy in trying to overcome a mental defect due to a removable 
physical cause. At the present time the practice in most of the 
large cities is to have the two examinations — medical and psy- 
chological : both are necessary. But not only should every child 
be given a medical examination before being assigned to one of 



314 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

these classes, but he should be re-examined at least once a year 
as long as he remains in the auxiliary class. 

(3) Equipment. 

The auxiliary school is housed in an old building that is too 
small and poorly arranged for the work that is being attempted. 
The playground in connection with the school building is also too 
small, and the school garden is so small that it can be used only 
for demonstration purposes. The school building is not centrally 
located so that most of the children are compelled to take the 
street car to and from school. As far as the equipment for the 
school work proper is concerned it is satisfactory. It would not 
be advisable to make any marked increase in equipment without 
erecting a new building. It seems to the writer that the solution 
of the problem here is not to erect a new building but rather to 
use the present building for the lower-grade mental defectives 
and provide for the higher grades in the auxiliary classes and in 
a school .centrally located. If all the lower-grade children w^ere 
taken out of the auxiliary classes, it would lighten the burden of 
the auxiliary class teacher by relieving her of some of her most 
hopeless cases, and by giving her a more homogeneous group 
with which to work. Furthermore it would be a decided ad- 
vantage for the lower-grade children to be thrown togther in a 
school of this kind for they are the ones that derive the least 
satisfaction, and suffer the greatest annoyance from associating 
with normal children. 

To carry out the above suggestions would be to go a step 
further in the direction of existing tendencies, for the auxiliary 
school at the present time has a larger percentage of low-grade 
children than the auxiliary classes which have been organized in 
connection with the regular schools. 

Most of the auxiliary classrooms are pleasant and satisfac- 
torily equipped. However, there are some marked exceptions. 
At the Widdicomb School the auxiliary class three days in the 
week occupies a miserable, poorl}^ lighted cooking room in the 
basement, and the other two days a basement room used for phy- 
sical training which is only a slight improvement over the cook- 
ing room. This is exceedingly unfortunate, as the children are 
working under most adverse conditions. In fact rather than to 
continue to hold the class in such a room it would be better to 
abolish it entirely, as much needed as it is. 

In the Straight School the auxiliary class occupies a cloak 
room which is totally inadequate in every respect. It is not sur- 
prising that the teacher of this class has decided to go back to 
regular grade work another year. To teach all the year in such a 



SPECIAL CLASSES OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS 315 

room must necessarily prove depressing both to pupils and teach- 
ers. 

The room which the auxiliary class occupies in the Diamond 
School, while much better than the auxiliary class rooms of 
Widdicomb and Straight, still leaves much to be desired as it is 
too long and narrow and is not properly lighted. If the auxiliary 
class is to be regarded with approval by parents and pupils, it 
should occupy, in every instance, a room as good as the other 
classrooms in the school building. 

Most of the rooms are supplied with movable seats, but some 
are not. It is important that every auxiliary room be provided 
with movable seats in order that the room may be used for a 
variety of purposes which is impossible with the fixed seats. 

The equipment for the regular school work is on the whole 
satisfactory. The teachers for the most part are able to get what 
they need without marked delay. Neither are the teachers held 
down to the same kind of equipment in every case. They are 
given opportunity to work out their own ideas without undue 
interference from above. 

(4) Training and Instruction. 

In order to study the work in reading, arithmetic and writing 
that is being done in the auxiliary classes of Grand Rapids as 
compared with the work of similar classes in Detroit, the writer 
requested each teacher to give pedagogical tests to each pupil 
in her class of a mentality of six or above. 

The following selection was used as a reading test: 
"Rex, was a little black dog. He was Kate's dog. Rex ran away 
from home one day. His friend, the big brown dog next door, 
went with him. They ran along all the morning. It was nearly 
noon and the dogs were hungry. They had not had a thing to 
eat since morning. Rex saw a rabbit hop across the road. His 
friend saw it too. They ran after the little rabbit. The 
rabbit tried to run away but the big brown dog ran faster. He 
soon caught the rabbit and the two dogs ate it. They were now 
very tired and lay down to rest. After a while they started on 
again. Towards night they became hungry again, but could 
find nothing to eat. They wished they were home to get a nice 
big bone. Kate and Mary the little girl next door, always gave 
their dogs a bone at night. At last they saw a little gray object 
running across the road. The dogs thought it was another rabbit. 
They ran after it but found it was only a cat. Then they walked 
on again wondering where they were and what they were going 
to find to eat. Soon the places began to look familiar. They turned 
the next corner and there in front of them were their homes and 
Kate and Mary at the gate looking down the road. The dogs 



316 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

bounded joyfully toward their mistresses. How glad they were 
to be home again. They were each given a large bone and were 
so glad to get home that they decided never to run away again." 

The following instructions were given to the examiners : 
First, secure the name, age (date of last birthday), and grade of 
the subject. Now present the story and say: 'T want you to 
read this story aloud until I tell you to stop." Allow one minute 
from the time the subject pronounces the first word. After the 
subject has finished reading say: "Now tell me in your own 
words what you have read." After the subject has told as much 
of the story as he remembers ask him the following questions : 

"1. What was Rex? 

2. Whose dog was he? 

3. What did Rex do? 

4. What went with him? 

5. How long did they run? 

6. How did they feel then? 

7. What did Rex see? ' . 

8. What did the dogs do? 

9. What did the rabbit do? 

10. Which caught the rabbit? 

11. What did they do with it? 

12. What did they do after eating the rabbit? 

13. When rested what did they do? 

14. How did they feel towards night? 

15. Why did they wish to be at home? 

16. Who gave them bones at night? 

17. What did they see run across the road? 

18. What did they think it was? 

19. What did they find out it was? 

20. What did they wonder? 

21. How did places begin to look? 

22. What did they see when they turned the corner? 

23. Who were at the gates? 

24. What did the dogs do? 

25. What were they given? 

26. What did they decide to do?" 

In addition to the above directions the examiners were instructed 
to keep a record of all mistakes made. In case the subject hesi- 
tated in pronouncing any word the examiner was instructed to 
pronounce the word for the child and count it an error. The 
amount of the story read and reproduced by the subject was es- 
timated by means of the questions which cover the main points 
of the story. If the subject read only as much of the story as is 
covered by four questions, and when asked to tell in his own 
words what he had read if he answered two of these questions he 
was given credit for having reproduced fifty per cent of the 
story. And if on being asked the four questions he answered 



SPECIAL CLASSES OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS 317 

three of them correctly he was credited with a reproduction of 
seventy-five per cent of the story. 

The test in arithmetic consisted in giving answers to the 
following twelve oral problems : 

"1. James gave me two marbles and Arthur gave me one. How 
many marbles did they give me? 

2. John had five apples and he gave three to his brother. How 
many apples did he have left? 

3. If one pencil costs two cents how much money will it take to 
buy three pencils? 

4. If oranges cost two cents apiece how many oranges can you buy 
for four cents? 

5. A farmer had four horses and bought three more. How many 
horses did he then have? 

6. William had nine marbles. He lost three. How many marbles 
did he have left? 

7. How much must I pay for three tops, if one top costs three 
cents? 

8. If one apple costs four cents how many apples can you buy for 
eight cents? 

9. Willie had seven pennies. His father gave him six more. How 
many pennies did he then have? 

10. There were twelve apples on a tree. James knocked off four. 
How many apples were left on the tree? 

11. If marbles are worth four cents apiece how much will four 
marbles cost? 

12. If one notebook costs three cents how many notebooks can you 
buy for fifteen cents?" 

The examiners were instructed to read each problem slowly 
and distinctly to the subject. If the subject did not understand 
the examiner was to read the problem again. The subject was 
given as much time as he desired to solve the problem. Each 
examiner was to give each child the twelve problems regardless 
of whether he gave the correct answers or not. The subject was 
given credit for the number of problems correctly solved. 

In giving the writing test the examiners were told to give the 
subject the following instruction: ''Write this sentence as fast 
and as carefully as you can until I tell you to stop : 'My dog 
plays with the ball." Time two minutes. The subject used a 
pencil and wrote from a typewritten copy of the sentence. The 
subject was given credit for the average numbers of letters writ- 
ten in one minute. 

In Table LXI are given the results of the three tests arrang- 
ed according to mental age of the subjects, not only for the aux- 
iliary classes of Grand Rapids, but for those of Detroit, Michigan, 
as well. In addition the results of testing one hundred and two 
normal children between seven and eight years of age of the 
Detroit schools are given on the last horizontal line of the table. 

Although the table is self-explanatory, it might be well to 
indicate the significance of some of the figures that appear in the 



318 



SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 



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SPECIAL CLASSES OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS 319 

first horizontal line under the division entitled, "Words read in 
one minute." The 21 which appears under "M", the median, 
means that of the 24 children tested between six and seven men- 
tally that as many read less than 21 words as read more than that 
number of words. The numbers 0-58 under ''Range" mean that 
the poorest member of this group read no words and the best one 
read 58 words. The 13 under "1st Q.", the first quartile, means 
that twenty-five per cent read less than 13 words, and the 37 
under "3d Q", third quartile, means that seventy-five per cent 
read less than 37 words in the one minute. From the first and 
third quartiles we see that fifty per cent of the pupils read be- 
tween 13 and 37 words in the one minute. 

The marked similarity in the attainments of the children of 
like mental age in Grand Rapids and Detroit is most surprising. 
However, Detroit has slightly the better of it as far as the median 
number of words read is concerned, although the difference is 
not significant. In the median number of errors there is very 
slight difference; also in the amount reproduced the two cities 
are on a par. The same may be said in regard to the number 
of problems solved. However, when we come to the average 
number of letters written in one minute Detroit has the advant- 
age all the way through. The similarity of results obtained is all 
the more striking when we bear in mind that in both cities the 
tests were given by many different examiners, as each auxiliary 
class teacher tested her own pupils. In the judgment of the 
writer the marked uniformity of results under such circumstances 
means that in both cities the auxiliary class teachers are teaching 
these children about as much reading, arithmetic and writing as 
they can assimilate. If such were not the case, we should expect 
the two cities to make unlike showing. 

On the last horizontal line of the table are given the results 
obtained by testing one hundred and two normal children be- 
tween seven and eight years of age in the Detroit public schools. 
It is interesting to note that these normal children do not make 
as good a showing as do the auxiliary class children who are 
between seven and eight mentally. In fact, the auxiliary children 
have the advantage in each one of these tests. But when we 
compare the normal, children with the Detroit auxiliary children 
who are six years mentally we discover that the results are al- 
most identical. In other .words, in pedagogical attainments 
the auxiliary child between six and seven years mentally is about 
on a level with the average normal child between seven and eight 
years chronologically. We have little reason to think that the 
psychological tests place the child lower than he belongs, as 
practically all the work of recent years seems to indicate that the 



320 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

Binet tests rank the younger child too high. If this is the case, 
than the difference in pedagogical attainments between the 
normal child of seven chronologically and the backward child 
of seven mentally is to be accounted for in two ways ; first, by 
the fact that the auxiliary child has been in school so much longer 
than the normal child of the same mental age, for nearly all the 
children in the auxiliary classes are retarded two years or more 
mentally; and, second, because of superior instruction, for the 
teachers of the auxiliary classes are a selected group commonly 
chosen from the most successful grade teachers and in addition 
have received special training for their work. 

In looking over the results for the different auxiliary class- 
es of the Grand Rapids schools the writer does not find that tnere 
is much variability in medians for the children of like mental 
age, except in the case of one class where the work in reading is 
considerably below the median for the auxiliary classes as a 
whole. 

From what the writer saw and learned of the handwork that 
is being done in these auxiliary classes he is of the opinion that 
it is up to the standard of the work in most cities of like size. 
The older children are given regular manual training work 
in some cases by the auxiliary class teachers ; in other cases by 
the regular teachers of manual training and domestic science. 
In some of the auxiliary classes part of the manual training and 
domestic science work is done in the auxiliary classroom. 

The writer questions the wisdom of equipping any of the 
auxiliary or ungraded classrooms for the regular manual training 
and domestic science work. When the boys and girls of the spec- 
ial classes are far enough advanced for this kind of work it w^ould 
seem economical, instead of duplicating apparatus, to have these 
children receive this kind of training in the regular domestic 
science and manual training rooms which are thoroughly equip- 
ped for this purpose. Then too if the manual training and dom- 
estic science work of these special classes (auxiliary and ungrad- 
ed) were given by the regular teachers of the manual arts instead 
of being given by the auxiliary or ungraded class teachers, as is 
being done in some schools, the work would be much improved. 
Grand Rapids is fortunate enough to have some teachers of the 
manual arts who are very much interested in the teaching of 
backward and defective children, so the problem of securing the 
right kind of teachers is not a serious one. It would of course be 
necessary to have the auxiliary children given this work in spec- 
ial classes, as they are backward not merely in academic work, 
but in manual work as well. But not only should this work be 
given by special teachers of the manual arts, but much more of 



SPECIAL CLASSES OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS 321 

it should be given to the auxiliary children than they are now get- 
ting. If possible one period a day, instead of one or two per 
week, should be devoted to this work. 

If the above plan were adopted, the children would get not 
only more work in the manual arts but they would get it under 
more favorable conditions as the work would be given in the 
rooms thoroughly equipped for that purpose and by special teach- 
ers of those subjects. In the second place, the teacher of the aux- 
iliary class would be free to devote her attention to the children 
who were not able to take the work in the manual arts, as it rare- 
ly happens that a teacher has a class sufficiently advanced that 
all can be given this work with profit. Then too it is expecting 
much of the auxiliary class teacher to ask her to be well prepared 
in manual training and domestic science work, as well as being a 
specialist of the first rank in the teaching of academic subjects. 
However, in event that the changes suggested were to be carried 
out it would be necessary for the teacher of the auxiliary class 
to keep in close touch with the work the children are doing in 
the manual arts in order that she might correlate that work with 
their other activities. She also should have sufficient knowledge 
of basketry, caning, modeling, etc. so that she could direct the 
work of the younger and more deficient children along these 
lines. 

(5) The Teachers. 

The auxiliary class teachers are well trained, enthusiastic and 
intensely interested in their work. In Grand Rapids these teach- 
ers are paid $100 more per annum than they received as 
grade teachers. This has made it possible to secure for this work 
some of the best grade teachers. All the teachers of auxiliary 
classes have had experience in teaching normal children, and all 
have attended at least one summer school in preparation for the 
work in which they are now engaged. Furthermore, these teach- 
ers receive one hour's instruction every week in the correction of 
speech defects. 

The plan that has been pursued thus far of selecting only 
successful grade teachers for auxiliary classes and requiring them 
to make special preparation for the work, as well as enabling 
them to continue their preparation while in service, is to be com- 
mended. Only the well trained, resourceful, enthusiastic teacher 
can hope to succeed in teaching backward and defective children. 

(6) Supervision. 

The general plan of supervision is very good. The super- 
visor requires the auxiliary class teacher to secure a photograph 
of each pupil soon after he is admitted to her class. This photo- 
graph is kept on file at the office of the supervisor. Each teacher 



322 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

is expected to visit the home of each pupil in her class at least 
once during the school year. And some of the teachers make 
many more visits than are required because of their interest in 
the children and in winning the support of the parents. The 
supervisor has supplied all of the teachers with suggestive sched- 
ules and outlines of the work in the different subjects. The 
teacher is not supposed to follow these outlines ; they are simply 
to help her in arranging her work so she may get the best results. 
Each teacher has a book in which she keeps a record of the work 
done each day.. At the end of the month the teacher submits to 
the supervisor a statement of the progress of her class in the var- 
ious activities they have been pursuing. During the second half 
of the year the teacher gives each child a psychological examina- 
tion, and at the end of the year she files with the supervisor a 
report of the progress of each child in her class for the year. 
Along with this report she submits samples of the child's work. 
The supervior plans to visit each auxiliary class at least once a 
month.. 

B}^ this plan of requiring each teacher to file at the super- 
visor's office a report of the child's mental develompent as meas- 
ured by psychological tests, and of his pedagogical progress as 
measured by the samples of work done, as well as by the judg: 
ment of the teacher, a very complete record of the child's growth, 
interests, and attainments has been secured by the time he 
leaves school. Such a record should be of great value in helping 
to determine what should be done for the child upon leaving 
school. 

Some of the teachers complain that it is a good deal of 
trouble to make out these reports, and feel that perhaps their 
time might be spent to better advantage. To omit any of the 
data that are now required would, in the judgment of the writer, 
be a great mistake. We know none too much about the back- 
ward and defective child and the character of his development. 
Furthermore, the data secured by means of the psychological ex- 
aminations and from the reports of the teachers have already 
proved to be of value in connection with the juvenile court cases, 
for during the present year the supervisor of special classes has 
been asked to examine more than fifty cases for the juvenile court 
and many of these cases either were or had been in the auxiliary 
classes. 

(7) After Care. 

Unfortunately little is done for the children of the auxiliary 
classes after they leave school. Some are supported by friends 
and relatives, some become wholly or in part self-supporting, 
some become a burden to society, some get into trouble and are 



SPECIAL CLASSES OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS 323 

found in juvenile court, and others get married and increase their 
kind so that the auxiliary class of the future may be well filled. 
The after care of the mentally defective child is a problem that 
is being very generally discussed in many of our cities, but no city 
has succeeded in solving it. In fact, there are two distinct 
questions connected with the after care of the boys and girls who 
are mentally defective ; first, ''How can they become self-support- 
ing"; and, second, "How can they be prevented from increasing 
their kind?" 

Let us consider the former of these problems first. How 
can we do more to make these boys and girls self-supporting? 
The sub-normal boy upon leaving school is not prepared for any 
specific line of work. ' He has received merely a general educa- 
tion, but the same thing may be said of the normal child upon fin- 
ishing the elementary school ; he is not prepared for any particu- 
lar line of work. However, there is one important difference be- 
tween these two types of children that has not been sufficiently 
emphasized. The normal boy in learning a trade, or entering a 
profession, or on going into business of any kind, is competing 
on equal terms with his fellows ; the sub-normal individual never 
is. If he gets a position how can he hope to keep it in the face 
of normal competition? He cannot hope to compete successfully 
with his normal fellows in any line of work unless he has some 
advantages at least. It is possible to give him some chance by 
preparing him for some specific line of work during the last two 
years he spends in the elementary school. An attempt is being 
made in this direction in several of our cities, by the establishment 
of prevocational schools where the boys and girls are given an 
opportunity to take a maximum amount of work in the manual 
arts. But it seems to the writer that we have not yet gone quite 
far enough. During these two years these boys and girls should 
be prepared for some specific line of work which they can take 
up at once upon leaving school and by means of this work be- 
come self-supporting. 

Grand Rapids has made a beginning in the right direction by 
establishing at the Junior High School an auxiliary class for high- 
grade boys where they are given a maximum amount of hand- 
work. In fact, some of them have become very proficient in bas- 
ketry. But the question arises in connection with this work as 
to how they are going to use this skill to gain a livelihood when 
they leave this class. Even most of these boys are destined to 
enter the ranks of unskilled laborers to compete on unequal terms 
with their normal fellows, and consequently to lose out in the 
competition. It would, without doubt, be a measure of economy 
for the school board to devote some building centrally located to 



324 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

the vocational training of these high-grade boys and girls where 
their academic training would be continued, but where the em- 
phasis would be placed on preparing them for some trade or for 
specific lines of work in the manufacturing plants of Grand Rap- 
ids. If all the high-grade boys and girls from the auxiliary 
classes and the backward boys from the ungraded classes were 
sent to such a school upon reaching the age of fourteen and were 
to remain there until sixteen, a large percentage of them would 
become self-supporting at once upon leaving school. But one step 
further is necessary, and that is, to appoint some person to act as 
a follow-up agent, to see that these boys and girls are properly 
placed upon leaving this school. New York has visiting teachers 
who devote all their time to visiting the homes of the children 
and in assisting in every possible way to improve the environ- 
ment of the child. Surely Grand Rapids could use advantage- 
ously one such person to look after the auxiliary boys and girls 
who are in school as well as those who have left school. 

But let us glance at the second question as to how to prevent 
these defectives from propagating their kind. There are two pos- 
sible ways, sterilization and segregation. The former under ex- 
isting conditions is out of the question, public sentiment is de- 
cidedly against it, and rightly so, it seems to the writer. The sec- 
ond method is to segregate these high-grade boys and girls in 
institutions. But where? Our state institution is full and has a 
long waiting list. The prospects that the State of Michigan will, 
in the near future, provide enough institutions to take care of its 
feeble-minded are exceedingly remote. Relief can only come 
through the city building such an institution. Such a plan has 
been advocated for several large cities, but as yet no action on a 
large scale has resulted. 

At the present time it is costing Grand Rapids one hundred 
dollars per year for each child in the auxiliary school. That is 
more than half as much as it costs to support a defective child in 
the state institution for the entire year of twelve months. In the 
state institution he is not only fed and trained and instructed, 
but in addition he receives the best of medical attention and leads 
a much happier and more useful life than does the lower-grade 
defective in the auxiliary school, or the auxiliary class ; he not 
only leads a happy and useful life in the institution, but what is 
more important yet, he is prevented from propagating his kind. 
If Grand Rapids were to secure near the city a large tract of land 
and erect on it cottages sufficient in number to provide for all 
its feeble-minded children it would be rendering a real and lasting 
service to its own community and to the state at large through 
the reduction of pauperism, crime and feeble-mindedness. 



SPECIAL CLASSES OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS 325 

If the generous and public-spirited citizens who have done 
so much for the auxiliary classes and the open-air classes of the 
public schools would become interested in this larger and more 
important problem a solution would be possible. 

(8) Recommendations. 

In the judgment of the writer the good work that is now 
being done by the auxiliary classes of Grand Rapids may be 
improved by adopting the following recommendations. 

1. That all children before being assigned to an auxiliary 
class be given a medical examination as well as the psychological 
examination. 

2. That better class rooms be provided for the auxiliary 
classes in Widdicomb, Straight and Diamond Schools. 

3. That all auxiliary class rooms, not already so equipped 
be provided with movable seats. 

4. That more work in manual training and domestic science 
be provided for the auxiliary classes and that this work be given 
by special teachers of these subjects. 

5. That the auxiliary school be used for the children that 
are most defective mentally. 

6. That a building centrally located be used as a vocational 
school where the high-grade boys and girls, and backward boys 
and girls from the ungraded classes, may be sent upon reaching 
the age of fourteen. 

7. That a field worker be employed whose business it will 
be to follow up the auxiliary boys and girls and assist them in 
every way possible, both before and after they have left school. 

8. That the city look forward to the segregation of its 
feeble-minded in order that the chief cause that makes neces- 
sary the formation of auxiliary classes may be removed. 

b. Ungraded Classes 

The ungraded classes of the Grand Rapids public schools 
were first organized some years before the auxiliary classes were 
started. They have gradually increased in number until at the 
present time there are twenty classes in connection with fifteen 
schools. Five of these schools have two ungraded classes each. 
Where two ungraded classes are found in the same school build- 
ing both may be used for pupils of about the same degree of 
retardation, or one may be for the primary pupils and the other 
for pupils from the grammar grades. The pupils that compose 
these ungraded classes may be drawn from two or three differ- 
ent schools or they may all come from the same school. The 
enrollment in the majority of these classes is about what it should 
be : between twenty and twenty-five. Experience has shown that 



326 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

a teacher cannot handle advantageously more than twenty-five 
pupils as a maximum. The pupils enrolled in these classes range 
in age from seven to twenty-two. However, there are only 
three classes that have any pupils under nine years of age, and 
more than half the classes have no pupils under eleven years of 
age. It is a significant fact that five of these classes have pupils 
over sixteen years of age. It seems to indicate that the classes 
are liked by the pupils, otherwise they would not remain in 
school after they had reached the age of sixteen. 

The pupils for these classes are selected by the principals of 
the schools in which the ungraded classes are organized. This 
means of course that in the majority of the cases the backward 
pupils of that school are cared for first before any are received 
from the neighboring schools that have no ungraded classes. 
And this is only natural as long as the principal has complete 
control of the class in her own building. 

In the selection of pupils for these classes the practice is not 
uniform although, generally speaking, the policy is to put into 
these classes those who by repeated failure in the grades have 
shown conclusively that they cannot keep up with their normal 
fellows. Then again pupils, on account of illness or absence 
from school, may be put into these classes temporarily in order 
to make up the work they have missed. Sometimes these pupils 
do not sit in the ungraded room but merely go to the ungraded 
teacher to recite in the subject or subjects in which they are 
behind. 

As a result of the different methods of selection there are 
in these ungraded classes children ranging in mentality from 
those of more than average ability, who are in the class for a 
short period of time, to those who are strictly feeble-minded. It 
is conceded by many of the teachers that they have one or more 
feeble-minded pupils in their classes. Very few of the children 
in these classes have had either a medical or psychological exami- 
nation. 

The equipment of the ungraded classrooms is, for the most 
part, like that of the regular grade rooms. However, there are 
some marked exceptions. Some of the rooms are equippd for 
handwork of different kinds, and one room that the writer 
visited had a sewing machine, and a cobbling outfit both function- 
ing while pupils were attempting to study. Of course, the char- 
acter of the equipment will depend on the mentality and interests 
of the pupils that are in the class, as well as on the aims of the 
teacher. 

Most of the teachers of these classes have a twofold prob- 
lem — that of coaching children of normal mentality or slightly 



SPECIAL CLASSES OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS 327 

less than normal with the view of returning them in the course 
of a few months to the regular grades, and the problem of train- 
ing and instructing pupils who are so backward mentally that 
they can never catch up with the normal child no matter how 
much assistance they may receive. In answer to the question, 
"What per cent of your class will you be able to return to the 
regular grades?" the majority of the teachers placed the per- 
centages between twenty-five and fifty. The range was 
from ten to eighty-five per cent. It is perfectly evident 
that the teachers of the classes for ungraded children have, in 
some respects a more difficult task than the teachers of the 
auxiliary classes. The latter teachers are not expected to bring 
any of their pupils up to the normal standard, while the success 
of the ungraded class teacher is largely measured by the percent- 
age of her class she is able to return to the grades. Her work 
is supervised by the principal of the school who is not in a 
position to judge whether a given child is not returned to the 
grades because of lack of ability, or because the teacher has not 
pursued the right methods of instruction. Then too the teachers 
of these ungraded classes are handicapped in having had no spe- 
cial training for this kind of work. Only four of the twenty 
teachers of ungraded classes have had any special training, yet 
in the judgment of the writer they need such training quite as 
much as the auxiliary class teachers, and perhaps even more so 
under the existing methods of supervision that obtain in these 
classes. 

In the first place, the method of selecting the pupils for the 
ungraded classes is not all that could be desired. As the writer 
pointed out, in discussing the superintendent's policy of not 
putting children in the special classes until they have lost two 
years or more, the child has become accustomed to failure be- 
fore he is put into the special class and the normal children have 
suffered by his presence during this period when he was making 
extra demands on the grade teacher. But if the children were 
selected for the ungraded classes at the end of their first semester 
in the grades, this two-fold loss would be in large measure 
avoided. But these children before being assigned to an un- 
graded class should be given a medical and psychological exami- 
nation. By this method those who stood most in need of help 
would receive it. Any child six or seven years of age who 
enters the first grade and fails in the term's work needs special 
consideration to determine if possible the cause of his failure. 
If he is handicapped by physical defects, or if he is subnormal 
in mentality, both the principal and the ungraded class teacher 
should know these facts. By such knowledge the teacher will 



328 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

be enabled to do the most for the child. Each child should be 
tried out thoroughly in the ungraded class and if he is found to 
be mentally defective he should be put into an auxiliary class. 
As long as there are not enough ungraded classes to accommo- 
date all pupils that may fall behind in their work, we should be 
careful to put into these classes those children that stand most 
in need of special assistance. We can never be sure that the 
wisest selection has been made under the present method of 
choosing children for these classes. Furthermore, under the 
present system of selection, the schools which have no ungraded 
classes, but are supposed to send their backward children to the 
ungraded classes in adjacent schools are not likely to get fair 
representation. But if pupils were assigned to these classes 
only after they had been given a psychological and medical 
examination, then only those would be selected who stood most 
in need of individual assistance. In other words, the selection 
of pupils for the ungraded classes should not rest with the prin- 
cipal alone, but the principal and the supervisor of special classes 
should make the selection. And the supervision of these classes 
should be under the control of the supervisor of special classes. 
The principal is not a specialist along this line and consequently 
should not be expected to supervise a work for which she has had 
no special training. Then too she has enough to do without being 
compelled to undertake this work. 

The ungraded class should be a clearing house for children 
not getting along well with their work. There should be no 
stigma connected with being put into this class. Let pupils 
understand that in being assigned to this class they are being 
given an exceptional opportunity to make up the work in which 
they are behind, and when that work is made up they will be 
returned to their grades. In one school where this method has 
been adopted the class is so popular that it has a waiting list. 

In a school building where there are two ungraded classes 
it is desirable to have one for the primary grades and the other 
for the grammar grades. A grammar-grade boy commonly 
resents being put into the same room with primary pupils even 
though he may belong there. Also in dividing them this way 
the burden of the teacher is lightened as she does not have so 
many grades to teach. 

Ungraded classes are much needed in the Hall School and 
also in the Plainfield School. These two schools had during the 
first half of the present year a larger percentage of repeaters 
than any other two schools in the city. Both buildings are over- 
crowded, and some of the teachers have too many pupils to do the 
best work. In the Plainfield School the average number of pu- 



SPECIAL CLASSES OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS 329 

pils per teacher is over forty, while the average per teacher for 
the elementary schools of the city is only about thirty. The 
principal of the Plainfield School claims that over twelve per 
cent of her pupils are retarded two years or more. And this is 
true in spite of the fact that she claims to have a good corps 
of teachers. Evidently the size of the classes in this school 
should be reduced and an ungraded class organized to provide 
for the backward pupils who are blocking the progress of the 
normal children. 

While the writer appreciates the good work that is being 
done in these ungraded classes yet he believes that work would 
be improved if the following recommendations were adopted : 

1. That in the future the majority of children put into un- 
graded classes be selected from the pupils who have failed in 
the first term's work of the first grade. 

2. That the children for the ungraded classes be selected 
by the supervisor of special classes and the principal of the 
school to which the child belongs. 

3. That all pupils in the present ungraded classes be given 
a medical and psychological examination, and those found to be 
mentally defective be placed in auxiliary classes. 

4. That in the future all pupils before being assigned to an 
ungraded class be given both a physical and psychological ex- 
amination. 

5. That the supervision of the ungraded classes be under 
the direction of the supervisor of special classes. 

6. That future teachers of ungraded classes be required to 
take special training as is now required of the auxiliary class 
teachers. 

7. That the backward boys and girls of the ungraded classes 
who show some ability in manual work, upon reaching the age of 
fourteen be sent to the industrial or vocational school, the estab- 
lishment of which has already been recommended. 

2. Open Air Classes 

At the present time Grand Rapids has three open air classes 
and one open air school. The three open air classes are held in 
connection with the Sigsbee, West Leonard and North Division 
Schools. 

The Sigsbee open air class was organized during the school 
year of 1911-1912. This class is conducted in a portable building 
which has been set up near the regular school building. The 
class has an enrollment of twenty-six, ranging in age from 
seven to fifteen and representing grades one to seven. The 
children were selected by the teachers and superintendent and 
were required to have a medical examination before being as- 



330 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

signed to this class. For the most part the parents pay for the 
extra food and clothing as they are glad to have their children 
in this class. All the children who want it are given a cup of 
cocoa or milk in the morning. 

The West Leonard open air class is also conducted in a 
portable building which has been set up in the school yard 
near the regular school building. This class has an enrollment 
of nineteen, representing grades three to seven. These children 
are provided lunch twice a day. The lunch, which is prepared 
by the open air teacher and the principal of the West Leonard 
school, is served at nine o'clock in the morning and at two forty- 
five in the afternoon. The children pay thirty-five cents every 
two weeks to defray the expense of food. 

The North Division open air class, or more properly 
speaking, open window class, is held in a large room on the 
third floor of the North Division school building. The classroom 
has large windows on three side so there is an abundance of 
fresh air. This class has an attendance of eighteen pupils. In 
age these children range from seven to twelve, and belong to 
grades one to three inclusive. Although this class was started 
in February, 1916, when the weather was very cold, only o'ne 
boy asked to go back to the regular school. The children who 
are in this class come from three or four adjacent schools. Each 
child that wants it is given a half pint of milk in the morning 
and another half pint in the afternoon. 

Before the Walker School was converted into an open win- 
dow school the consent of the parents of the pupils was obtained. 
Extra clothing was provided and the windows were then kept 
open during the entire year. The children were furnished milk 
every day. The superintendent in his report for 1913-1914 says : 
"If the Walker School had not been made into an open air 
building I doubt if school could have been kept there because the 
building is so old and dilapidated that it is impossible to keep 
the building warm in severe weather. As it is, with the children 
supplied with extra clothing, the windows can be opened and 
the children are comfortable and happy. Never in the history 
of the school has there been so little sickness as this last year, 
and the work of the children has been improved by the open air. 
I am not exaggerating when I say that they do not look like the 
same set of children, they have improved in health, in work, in 
looks, in attendance — in every possible way." 

The food and extra clothing for the three open air classes 
and for the open window school have been furnished in large part 
by the Fortnightly Club, an organization composed of generous 



SPECIAL CLASSES OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS 331 

and public-spirited women who have rendered invaluable as- 
sistance in developing the auxiliary and open air classes. 

Without question the open air classes as well as the open 
window school have proved to be a decided success. But this 
is the experience of all cities that have given the open air class 
a fair trial. It is safe to say that the value of these classes has 
been established. The question is as to the character of their 
future development. 

Grand Rapids has between one hundred and one hundred and 
ten pupils enrolled in the three open air classes and open window 
school. The estimate most commonly made is that from two 
to five per cent of the school children stand in need of the open 
air treatment. According to this estimate there are in the Grand 
Rapids elementary schools from three to seven hundred fifty 
children who would profit greatly from the open air treatment. 
How may they receive this treatment at a minimum cost? It is 
not easy at the present time to give a satisfactory answer to this 
question because of the diversity of practice. St. Louis in 1915 
completed an open air school the equipment of which alone cost 
three thousand dollars.. This school is supplied with baths, 
lunch rooms, and dental clinic. It opened with a corps of six 
teachers and an enrollment of one hundred twenty-one pupils. 
On the other hand, Supt. Dyer, of Boston, in his report for the 
school year 1914-1915 referring to the tubercular and anemic 
children says, "These are in fifteen open-air rooms, which are, as 
a rule, equipped for the purpose with wraps, reclining chairs, and 
luncheon facilities. There seems to be no tendency to increase 
the number of these rooms. So much attention has been given 
to ventilation of our school rooms by the open-window method 
that teachers feel most of their rooms are, to all intents, open air 
rooms, and the principals who make comparisons between the 
children in the open air rooms and those under ordinary condi- 
tions are coming to the conclusion after many years of trial that 
except for markedly defective children the so-called open air 
room is unnecessary. Our medical inspector is giving this mat- 
ter serious consideration this year but has not as yet reached a 
conclusion as to the advisability of increasing or diminishing 
the number." 

In the annual report for the year 1913-1914 Supt. Dyer in dis- 
cussing the same problem says : "The open air classes number 
fifteen and these seem to be sufficient to meet the need of special 
treatment of children who are undernourished and anemic. In 
fact, most of our school rooms are to a considerable extent open 
air rooms. The provision that windows shall be open at all 
times when the "leather at all permits and that the rooms be 



332 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

flushed periodically through the day is very carefully followed 
by almost all our teachers. The temperature is carefully watched 
and except in summer is rarely above 68 degrees. Whether as a 
result of this or not, the number of children needing distinct and 
separate open air treatment seems to be diminishing rather than 
increasing. In most of the open air classes a luncheon is pro- 
vided at the smallest expense possible to the children. This 
provision should be made for all the classes in order that these 
children should have the proper kind of nourishment at the noon 
period." 

In this same report Dr. Harrington, head of the department 
of school hygiene, says : "Besides the fifteen open-air classes 
for the especially selected debilitated children, the school com- 
mittee has made an effort to have every classroom an open-air 
room. Legislation bearing upon the temperature and regulation 
of windows has been carefully observed. Among 1,065 different 
classrooms visited during February, March, and April, 1004 had 
open windows. Nine hundred forty-seven had a temperature 
between 60 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Six hundred eleven had 
a temperature of 64 to 68 degrees, inclusive." 

The trend of development in New York City is also in the 
direction of the open window classes. Such classes were rapidly 
organized during February and March of 1914 so that before 
the conclusion of the term there were ninety classes in Man- 
hattan. In discussing these classes in the superintendent's re- 
port for 1913-1914 Dr. Woodruff, medical inspector of open air 
classes of New York City schools, says : "These classes were 
conducted like ordinary classes, except that the classrooms were 
cut out of the ventilating system, and ventilation was carried out 
by means of open windows. This gave, during the winter, a 
lower temperature, greater humidity, and greater air movement, 
as well as that intangible quantity, 'fresh air'. The classroom 
temperature was kept between 50 and 60 degrees Fahrenheit, 
when the outside temperature was not higher, and 50 degrees F 
was considered the minimum temperature. Heat was permitted to 
overcome unduly low temperatures and 'rawness' (excessive hu- 
midity.) Children were allowed to wear their own wraps and hats 
when they desired, but no equipment was provided. In some 
classes feeding was given at the desire of teachers or principals. 
This was almost entirely self-supporting. It consisted either of 
food, such as sandwiches, brought by children, with or without 
milk, or else milk and crackers, procured by the teacher and for 
which the children paid. The average cost when milk was pro- 
cured by the teacher was about ten cents per capita per week." 

The following are some of the suggesti&ns made by Dr. 



SPECIAL CLASSES OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS 333 

Woodruff based on experience with open window classes in 
New York City: 

1. "That room is preferable for this type of a class which 
has windows on two sides so as to insure open windows on at 
least one side, if on account of high winds or a driving storm 
they have to be closed on the other. Rooms with sliding doors 
such as those which form parts of assembly rooms are not satis- 
factory. The doors do not fit closely together and this, together 
with the ventilator above, creates too much of a draft. 

2. "A room with south or east exposure gives best results, 
as this room is the warmest in winter time. Rooms with a 
northern exposure, particularly those room in which it is diffi- 
cult to keep the temperature at a comfortable point in cold 
weather with the windows closed are bound to give dissatis- 
faction. 

3. "A minimum of 50 degrees F. seems to yield the best 
results, as under ordinary conditions children do not feel cold at 
this temperature. On some cold raw days without sun, the 
temperature will need to be higher, probably over 55 degrees. 
It is well to assume that shivering on the part of any child indi- 
cates that the child is not warm enough. 

4. "If the children come to school with their clothing soak- 
ing wet, it is desirable that the room be conducted as a closed 
classroom until their clothing is dry, unless the temperature with 
the windows open is about 65 degrees or higher. 

5. "The heat required to maintain the temperature at ap- 
proximately 50 to 55 degrees, should be obtained preferably by 
a little heat from each radiator, rather than by all from one 
radiator, so as to prevent any child sitting near a radiator from 
being overheated. This is practicable, as in most classrooms the 
radiators have valves which can be controlled by the teachers. 
All children should be urged to wear sweaters if they can obtain 
them. They should be allowed to put on wraps or overcoats if 
they feel. the need of them. Children with catarrh or running 
ears or whose medical card shows adenoids should be placed on 
that side of the room away from the open window. Those sus- 
ceptible to catarrh or those near windows should be encouraged 
to wear caps, regardless of appearance. 

6. "It is advisable that teachers dress appropriately. A 
thin wash waist, which is comfortable in a hot steam-heated 
apartment, is not sufficient for such a room, and unless teachers 
wear flannel waists or sweaters they will want to keep the tem- 
perature too warm for the more warmly clad children. There is 
a tendency, I think, for most of us to forget that, except in cases 
of extreme poverty, the average public school children who come 



334 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

from homes where there is no heating plant are accustomed to 
dress very much more warmly than those of us who live in steam- 
heated apartments, where the temperature nearly always tends 
to be too high." 

The experience of Boston and New York seems to indicate 
that if our public school buildings were properly heated and 
ventilated the need for the strictly open air class would not in- 
crease but decrease. The regular classroom is in part creating 
the conditions that the open air class is trying to relieve. Ap- 
parently the most can be accomplished by devoting a great deal 
more attention to the proper ventilation and heating of the 
regular classrooms, and using the open air room proper for 
children that are tubercular or come from tubercular families. 

The writer would make the following recommendations : 

1. That more attention be given to converting the regular 
classrooms into open v/indow rooms in accordance with the sug- 
gestions contained in the quotations from the Boston and New 
York reports. 

2. That enough open air rooms thoroughly equipped be 
furnished to provide for those children who especially stand in 
need of fresh air, food and rest. 

3. That the children for these open air classes be selected 
by physicians, not by teachers. Only in this way can we be sure 
that the children who stand most in need of this treatment will 
get it. 

4. That future school buildings be so constructed that they 
can to advantage be used as open window schools. 

3. Truant School 

The truant school under its present principal has a history 
of seventeen years. The principal points with pride to the fact 
that so many of the former pupils of this school are now success- 
ful men. He insists that not one of the pupils who have attended 
this school during the seventeen years of his administration has 
made a criminal record since leaving school. If this is the case 
it is a record of which to be proud, especially in view of the fact 
that this is a school for truant and incorrigible boys. 

Boys ten years of age or above are admitted to this school 
upon the recommendation of the principal of any elementary 
school and with the approval of the superintendent of schools. 
Pupils also are admitted from the parochial and private schools 
upon the recommendation of the truant officer. When once ad- 
mitted they remain in the truant school until the principal thinks 
it wise to return them to the r^egular schools, or until they have 
reached the age of sixteen. The interesting fact is that very 



SPECIAL CLASSES OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS 335 

few of these boys want to return to the regular schools. The 
writer asked the principal and his assistant to leave the room 
and he had a talk with the boys in regard to the school. Only 
three out of the forty-five boys enrolled said they would rather 
be in the regular schools, and the reasons assigned were that 
they did not have enough manual training work, no recesses, 
and little opportunity to use the playground. From the stand- 
point of the boys the school is eminently satisfactory. One rea- 
son for the general satisfaction is the way the school is con- 
ducted. It begins at the usual hour, nine o'clock, and continues 
until eleven when most of the pupils are excused to sell the 
morning papers, which in Grand Rapids do not come out before 
eleven o'clock. School begins in the after-noon at one o'clock 
and most of the boys are again excused at three o'clock to sell 
the afternoon papers. Thirty-five out of the forty-five boys en- 
rolled sell papers. But the selling of papers is done under strict 
supervision. Each boy has his corner and is supposed to be 
there at certain hours of the day. The principal makes two 
tours of inspection each day, at eleven o'clock and again at three 
o'clock to see that each boy is at his place of business. The 
selling of papers is considered a part of the education of these 
b^ys. One reason the principal encourages, and in some cases 
insists on the boys selling papers, is that many of them come 
from homes where the conditions are such that they do not get 
enough food to eat. By selling papers they are able to earn 
from one to eight dollars a week. The principal also secures 
positions for many of the boys during the summer vacation as he 
believes, and rightly, that work is an important factor in the 
education of these boys. 

The truant school is housed in three rooms in the Junior 
High School building. One of these rooms is fitted up for 
manual training work ; the other two rooms are used as class- 
rooms and one of these is also used as an office. 

The boys enrolled in the school are from ten to sixteen years 
of age, and all are in the grammar grades. In order to determine 
how these boys compare with normal children the writer gave 
them three tests taken from Pyle's ''Examination of school child- 
ren". The tests used were one of the "logical memory tests" in 
which the selection entitled the "Marble Statue" was used, and 
two tests of "rote memory" in which two lists of concrete and 
abstract words were used. 

In memory for concrete words sixty-seven per cent fell be- 
low the standard of attainment for normal children of like age; 
in memory for abstract words, and in the logical memory test, 
eighty-seven per cent failed to reach the normal standard. While 



336 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

too much weight cannot be given to tests of this character yet 
the results obtained would seem to indicate that on the average 
these boys are in mentality somewhat below children of like age 
in the public schools. The writer gave a psychological examina- 
tion to one of the boys who was said to be among the dullest in 
the group and found him to test two years below age. Evidently 
the teachers are here dealing with a group of boys some of whom 
failed to make good in the regular school, not merely because of 
lack of interest and consequent irregular attendance, but also 
because of poor ability. 

The way the work of instruction is divided the principal 
teaches the seventh and eighth grades and the assistant teacher 
teaches the rest. As there are fifteen boys in the seventh and 
eighth grades that leaves thirty pupils for the assistant teacher 
to instruct. The principal also has charge of the manual train- 
ing work. 

The writer is decidedly of the opinion that the present 
training and instruction that these boys are receiving in the 
academic subjects and manual training is unsatisfactory. In the 
first place, the school day is too short. The majority of the boys, 
the thirty-five who sell papers, are in school only four hours per 
day. In the second place, the principal of the school is devoting 
only part of his time to teaching. The boys of the school are 
getting very little manual training work, simply because the 
principal finds it necessary to spend so much of his time in 
looking up boys who are not in school. He frequently drops 
everything and starts out at once to get some truant boy whom 
he has succeeded in locating. In the third place, the assistant 
teacher has too much work to do. She cannot be expected to 
handle to best advantage a group of thirty or more, and com- 
monly more, ungraded boys. She is an excellent teacher and is 
doing good work and is liked very much by her pupils, but she 
is being overworked, for she is trying to do in a short school day 
with a group of ungraded truant boys what most teachers are 
expected to do in a longer school day with a group no larger of 
well-behaved graded pupils. 

One solution of the problem would be for the principal to 
cease acting as truant officer and leave that work to the regular 
truant officer and devote all his time to the work of teaching. 
If the principal were to do that, and if the boys were to give up 
the selling of papers, then the school day could be lengthened 
and the present teachers would have the time to do justice to 
the manual training and academic work. But such a solution of 
this problem would be decidedly unwise. The function of a 
school of this kind is not merely to train boys in the conventional 



SPECIAL CLASSES OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS 2>Z7 

school subjects, but also, and above all, to develop character, to 
make honest men out of boys who got a wrong start. This func- 
tion of a truant school should never be lost sight of, and the 
principal has kept this function clearly in view. 

The careers of the boys that have left this school during 
the seventeen years of his administration are conclusive proof 
of that fact. To have the boys give up selling papers would be 
a decided mistake. This work is not only enabling most of these 
boys to earn a little money that is much needed, but it is at the 
same time giving them a training in conducting business in an 
honorable way. To have the principal give up his work of acting 
as truant officer would be a mistake. One reason the boys are 
sent to this school is that they have been irregular in attendance. 
The regular truant officer was not able to keep them in school 
when they were enrolled in the regular schools. We have no rea- 
son to think he would be more successful with truants from the 
truant school. In Table LXII are given figures showing the 
enrollment and attendance in the truant school for a period of 
eight years as compared with the attendance in all the public 
schools of Grand Rapids. 

TABLE LXII 

Attendance at the truant school compared with attendance at all 
public schools of Grand Rapids. 

TRUANT SCHOOL 

Number Percentage Percentage of Attendance 

School Year in Attendance of Attendance for AH the Schools 

1907-1908 : 74 96.0 95.8 

1908-1909 64 

1909-1910 56 

1910-1911 65 

1911-1912 58 

1912-1913 71 

1913-1914 55 

1914-1915 58 

In the first column is given the school year; in the second, 
the total number of different pupils enrolled in the truant school ; 
in the third, the percentage of attendance for the truant school 
based on the average number belonging ; and in the last column, 
the percentage of attendance for all the public school of Grand 
Rapids based on the average number belonging. 

This table shows that throughout this entire period the at- 
tendance in the truant school has exceeded the average attend- 
ance for all the public schools, and that during the last six years 
it has exceeded it by two per cent or more. 

These figures show conclusively that the principal of the 
truant school has been eminently successful in preventing 
truancy. But the principal has succeeded in keeping these boys 



97.0 


96.8 


98.1 


95.2 


97.6 


95.6 


98.5 


95.8 


98.5 


96.45 


98.6 


96.07 


98.8 


96.21 



338 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

in school not only by catching the truant before he has had a 
chance to profit from his truancy, but also by making the school 
so attractive to the boys that they do not have much desire to 
play truant. 

One striking fact is that so few of the boys that are sent 
from Grand Rapids to the Industrial School at Lansing have 
ever been in the truant school. It seems to indicate that most, 
or at least a majority, of the worst cases never are sent to the 
truant school. Apparently the method of selecting boys for 
this school is not all that could be desired. If boys are sent to 
the truant school simply because they have been irregular in 
attendance, because they did not like school, or if they are sent 
to the truant school simply because they have an abundance of 
energy that causes them to get into mischief then, without ques- 
tion, the truant school is not getting the type of child that stands 
most in need of the kind of instruction and training that a truant 
school is supposed to give. 

The writer would make the following recommendations : 

1. That pupils be committed to the truant school upon the 
joint recommendation of the principal of the elementary school 
from which the child comes, and the principal of the truant 
school, with the approval of the superintendent. The principal 
of the truant school, because of his knowledge of boys in general, 
and because of his knowledge of what many of the boys are 
doing and the type of place they are frequenting after school 
hours, is in a position to render valuable assistance in the selec- 
tion of boys for the truant school. 

2. That a man assistant be appointed to assist in the work 
of teaching at the truant school, in order that the present assist- 
ant may be relieved of some of her work, and in order that the 
principal of the truant school may have more time to investigate 
the cases that are proposed for admission to the school, to direct 
and supervise the activities of the boys outside of school hours, 
and to secure positions for them during vacations and upon 
leaving school. The writer is convinced that the principal C9,n 
render a much greater service by using his time in this way than 
by devoting it all to teaching in the school, for the work siig- 
gested above can be done successfully only by one who under- 
stands boys thoroughly, and who is in sympathy with them. 

3. That the truant school open at eight o'clock in the morn- 
ing and close at eleven, and open in the afternoon at twelve 
forty-five and close at three o'clock. By adopting these changes 
the work of selling papers would not be interfered with, and the 



SPECIAL CLASSES OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS 339 

school day would then be of the same length as that of the 
regular schools. 

4. Thai: the boys be given more manual training work, 
better opportunities to use the playground, and that bathing 
facilities be provided. 

5. That all pupils upon admission to this school be given 
a careful psychological and medical examination. 

6. That each year the principal of the truant school submit 
to the superintendent of schools a detailed report of the work of 
the truant school. 



CHAPTER XIII 

BUILDINGS AND 
EQUIPMENT 

John F. Bobbin 



In any present consideration of school buildings and equip- 
ment in Grand Rapids it is necessary to divide the buildings 
into two classes: (1) those that represent the building policies 
of former boards of education, and which are of types no longer 
constructed but most of which must be used for many years to 
come ; (2) the buildings recently constructed, which represent 
the present building policy of the board. 

The New Buildings 

Judging from the results secured, the city is fortunate in hav- 
ing a school architect who has thoroughly familiarized himself 
with all of the best features of modern school-building construc- 
tion. Buildings like the Franklin and the Sheldon can be com- 
mended in almost all of their features. Questionable arrange- 
ments are few and slight. Among the striking features of excel- 
lence are the following: 

1. The school plant supplies the material facilities for a very 
wide range of educational and community activities : classrooms, 
assembly rooms, gymnasium, manual training room, domestic 
science room, branch public library, cloak-rooms, nurses' room, 
shower baths, moving picture and stereopticon facilities, social 
center room, kindergarten room, toilet rooms, teachers' rest room, 
principal's ofhce, rooms for ungraded pupils, teachers' lunch 
room, etc. 

2. The building is of fire-proof construction throughout. 

3. The orientation of all classrooms is either east or west, 
and in no cases north or south. 

4. The lighting in all classrooms is unilateral. 

5. The ground floor is sunk but little below the general 



BUILDINGS AND EQUIPMENT 341 

grade level, thus permitting large windows and adequate lighting 
of the rooms on the ground floor. 

6. The ratio of window space to floor area is sufliciently 
large in all classrooms. 

7. The tops of the windows are square and reach as nearly 
to the ceiling as practicable. 

8. In most cases the mullions between the windows are as 
narrow as construction will permit, thus eliminating bands of 
shadow across the classrooms. 

9. Translucent shades are provided for the windows. 

10. A carefully chosen and pleasing tinting scheme has been 
employed. 

11. The lighting is always from the left side of the pupils. 

12. The rooms are thoroughly ventilated with a modern 
plenum system, which takes the air from a good height above 
the ground. 

13. The temperature of the air is automatically controlled. 

14. After passing the coils, the warm air is humidified by 
means of a copper evaporating-pan humidifier. The per cent of 
humidification is automatically controlled by means of a humid- 
ostat in one of the classrooms. 

15. In addition to the indirect heating of the classrooms in 
connection with the ventilation, there is also a vacuum system of 
direct steam heating with radiators of the wall type located 
under the windows. This direct radiation is controlled by ther- 
mostats which operate the diaphragm valves. 

16. All classrooms are of good standard size with no space 
wasted by making them too large, as in the majority of the older 
buildings. 

17. Each classroom is supplied with a cloak-room, and a 
closet for teachers' supplies. Cloak-rooms are commodious, ven- 
tilated, and lighted. 

18. The corridors are adjusted in width to the needs of the 
buildings, space being ample without waste. 

19. Exits are sufliciently numerous, sufliciently wide, doors 
opening outward and provided with automatic panic bars. 

20. The boiler-room, although within the building, is sep- 
arated from all other portions of the building by means of fire- 
proof construction. 

21. The floors of classrooms are invariably of close-grained 
hardwood, usually or always maple, and never of pine or other 
loose-grained or soft wood. The floors of corridors are of tinted 
concrete composition, and are both pleasing and serviceable. 

22. Adjustable desks are found in all the classrooms. 

23. The blackboards are of slate. They are suflicient in 



342 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

amount, without excess, and are placed in the different rooms at 
levels corresponding to the needs of the pupils of different grades. 

24. The ceilings of the rooms are of standard height. 

25. Drinking facilities of the most modern type are installed 
upon each floor. 

26. Toilet accommodations are placed on each of the several 
floors for both boys and girls. All plumbing is of approved mod- 
ern, sanitary type. There is a thorough' system of ventilation 
completely separate from that of the rest of the building. The 
flooring is of good composition, and the rooms are adequately 
lighted. 

27. Special entrances are provided for the community center 
room and the branch library room, w^hich permit their use with- 
out opening up any other portion of the building. 

28. The building is provided with a vacuum cleaning system. 

29. The buildings are of simple, pleasing architectural de- 
sign. They combine economy of cost with good architectural 
proportion and general appearance. 

30. The cost of the buildings as compared wicK similar con- 
structions in other cities is moderate. It is somewhat lower than 
in Detroit or Cleveland ; considerably lower than in Newark and 
St. Louis ; and very much lower than in Boston. It is not suf- 
ficiently low, however, to create suspicion as to quality of mater- 
ials or character of workmanship. 

There are a few things, however, in the new buildings that 
should be considered in planning the construction of future build- 
ings. While most of the things mentioned here are of minor 
significance, some of them are of sufficient importance to justify 
careful scrutiny: 

(1) In certain of the rooms in the newer buildings — the 
Lexington, the Franklin and the Sheldon — and in certain of the 
newer additions, as for example that at the Alexander School, 
the front wall of the room is so completely given to doors as 
to leave inadequate blackboard space at the front of the room 
for the teacher, and to make it difficult to mount pictures at that 
end of the room where they can be most effective. Much can be 
said in favor of a closet for the teachers' supplies at or near the 
front of the room, where they are easily accessible. But when 
the result of placing the cloak-room at the front of the room re- 
quires two additional doors at the front, making three in all as 
in the Franklin, or four at the front as in the Lexington and in 
the Alexander addition, then it seems clearly desirable that the 
cloak-room should be placed at the back of the room. If placed 
at the front it should certainly be so arranged as not to break the 
front wall so completely as is now the case. It seems that a. 



BUILDINGS AND EQUIPMENT 343 

desire for architectural symmetry has outweighed considerations 
of educational utility and serviceability. In all cases it is the 
work that goes on within a building that should determine the 
arrangements within the building. Where architectural sym- 
metry and educational needs cannot be reconciled, it is the needs 
of the educational work that ought to be dominant. The neces- 
sary degree of architectural symmetry and good appearance can 
always be obtained. 

It perhaps ought also to be said that building plans should 
never be adopted until they have been carefully gone over by 
those who are to use the buildings after its completion. Requests, 
suggestions, and judgments of teachers and principals in such 
case do not always show as great familiarity with modern build- 
ing construction as is, desirable. Nevertheless, knowing what 
they want to do within the building their advice is generally 
worth listening to as to the kind of building arrangements that 
will best serve their purposes. 

(2) The classroom bank of windows should not be carried 
so far forward. The reasons for carrying the dead wall space 
back eight feet at least from the front is that the presence of win- 
dows too far forward means an undue amount of frontal glare 
upon the eyes of pupils in the rows of seats nearest the windows. 
This extra glare reveals itself also in undesirable ways upon 
the varnished desk tops and the front blackboard. If the extra 
window space is actually needed for illumination on cloudy days, 
and is justifiable for that reason, it perhaps should be provided 
with special dark blinds that are kept drawn on days when such 
extra illumination is not required. This mode of treatment is 
recommended for the front window in each of the classrooms of 
the buildings recently constructed. 

(3) In buildings like the Franklin, the corridors, especially 
those of the first floor, are not well enough lighted from the out- 
side. The placing of toilet rooms for both boys and girls on all 
floors is very commendable, but they should not have been placed 
so as to close both ends of the corridors on each floor. This 
space should be given to windows, and the toilet rooms placed 
at the sides of the corridors. 

(4) Toilet fixtures for the little people on the first floor, the 
standing wash basins, etc., should be of such a size and height 
as best to accommodate the diminutive stature of the primary 
children. If not uniformly small, they should be of different sizes. 
Wash basins should be much more numerous than at present, 
provided with liquid soap, and with towels always on the holder. 

(5) Both in the purchase of the sites and in the plans of 
the buildings, provisions should be made for the construction of 



344 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

additions in the future, as the district about a building becomes 
more densely populated. 

The Older Buildings and Their Equipment. 

Some of the older buildings are of antiquated and undesir- 
able types. The board already has been working for some time 
upon the policy of replacing them with modern construction. 
The continuance of this wise policy will in time provide suitable 
buildings for every district in the city. The change, however, 
must necessarily be gradual. Except in a few instances where 
the buildings are highly unsuitable, the older buildings must be 
used yet for many years. 

The problem of the board in connection with these older 
buildings is to make them as serviceable as possible during the 
time that they must still be used. It must be remembered that 
the children going to school within these more ancient buildings 
are as deserving of good accommodations as the children of the 
districts possessing modern accommodations. Since it is im- 
possible to afford entire equality of accommodations, it is desir- 
able that especial care be given in the old buildings to those im- 
provements that require no fundamental reconstruction, and 
which can therefore be economically made. It is possible to take 
care of the lighting, the ventilation, the furnishing, the decora- 
tions, the fire protection, the cleanliness, the heating, the black- 
boards, etc., so as to bring about reasonable equality of oppor- 
tunity in these various things throughout the city. In most re- 
spects it must be said, too, that commendable attention has been 
given to the various needs of the older buildings. In all of them 
one finds recent adjustments which have been made for the pur- 
pose of modernizing the structures and equipment. New toilet 
facilities have been installed. Ventilation arrangements have 
been made. New windows have been cut in rooms formerly too 
dark. Unused basement rooms have been improvised for play- 
rooms, shops, kitchens, etc. Older types of heating have given 
way to modern types. School yards have been enlarged through 
the purchase of adjacent lots. Modern playground facilities have 
been provided, etc., etc. The writer was informed that when the 
present board took charge of affairs, the buildings in general 
were in a deplorable condition. The city was years behind in 
its building program. In every building one finds that the pre- 
sent board has been trying to overcome the accumulated results 
of former neglect. 

^ The recommendations made in the sections that follow 
which look for further improvements in the facilities provided in 
the older buildings fully recognize the fact that the present 



BUILDINGS AND EQUIPMENT 345 

board has for some time been working upon the problem of im- 
proving the older buildings as fully as the funds of the district 
will permit. Since their policies are already so evident, our pur- 
pose here is not mainly to suggest to them what they ought to 
do so much as it is to reinforce policies that are already being ef- 
fectively carried out. 

In pointing to shortcomings observed in the older buildings, 
it is not our purpose to point out all kinds of shortcomings. Many 
of these cannot be overcome without an outlay that is unwarrant- 
ably large. When the outlay required goes beyond a certain 
point the district will have to wait until the building can be re- 
placed by a modern structure, or until an addition to the present 
structure can be built. Our purpose is to point out only short- 
comings that can be remedied without fundamental alterations of 
the present structures. Where fundamental alterations are re- 
quired, the only thing to do is to recommend an addition or a 
new building. 

Provision for a Variety of Activities. 

When the oldest buildings were constructed education con- 
cerned itself with little besides learning things out of books. 
The only activities for which a building needed to be equipped 
were study and recitation activities. It was then known that 
many other things were necessary for the full development of 
children, but the schools had undertaken no responsibility con- 
cerning these other things. Moreover, it was felt that since 
school buildings were for children only, they were not designed 
to take care of any type of adult activity. 

More recently we have conceived, as indicated by such good 
practice as that shown in the new buildings in Grand Rapids, 
that we must take care not only of the activities of the children 
but of the adults of the district; not only of learning things 
from books, which is necessary, but also the training that comes 
from play, from athletics, from music, from social activities, lib- 
rary reading, shop activities, gardening, etc. 

When the principals in the old buildings were asked what 
they needed in order more adequately to take care of the activi- 
ties of children and adults in their community, demands every- 
where were of similar tenor: "We need an assembly room." 
"We ought to have a branch library room." "We need a gym- 
nasium, shower bath, lockers, etc." "We should like to have a 
room for our backward children." "We need a manual training 
room." "We need a swimming pool." "We need a larger play- 
ground and a better equipped playground." "We need rest- 
rooms and limch-rooms for the teachers." "We need a sewmg- 



346 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

room outside of the kitchen." "We need indoor playrooms for 
the children." ''We need a school garden." 

The school board and the professional people are to be com- 
mended for making vigorous efforts everywhere throughout the 
system to take advantage in the greatest possible degree of the 
opportunities afforded in the school buildings of taking care of 
these various activities. In most cases about all has nov^ been 
done that the older buildings will permit. In most cases nothing 
remains to be done but to build additions or to build a modern 
structure in the place of the outgrown one. 

Assembly Rooms, Branch Library Rooms, Gymnasium. 

When the older buildings make no provision for such large 
rooms — this neglect is universal in the old buildings — there can 
be no adequate remedy within the building itself as it stands. 
In such cases it is possible for the board to consider an addition 
to the building which represents the first unit of construction 
of a new building which is designed in time to replace the old one. 
Such a plan would provide facilities at present for the quite old 
buildings, and yet retain the buildings for service as long as con- 
ditions may make this necessary. It means that in the replace- 
ment of the building a portion of it might well be built soon, and 
the remaining portion of it several or many years hence. The 
plan naturally requires long foresight and stable policy. 

As the board provides new construction for the city, one 
thing to keep in mind — and the board appears to be keeping it 
in mind — is a general distribution of assembly rooms, gymna- 
siums, etc., over the city so that where a district has 
no such accommodations for itself the accommodations can 
be found in an adjoining district at no great distance. 
It is possible to make one assembly room, one gymnasium, 
etc., for the immediate present serve the needs of two or 
even three adjoining districts. Naturally, this cannot be so sat- 
isfactory to the district that has no accommodations of the sort 
of its own ; yet in so far as the need is felt by the district for such 
accommodations, the plan may be made fairly serviceable. For 
healthy children and adults to walk the extra distance can do 
them no harm. The chief obstacle is a mental, not a physical one. 
In the same way that it is possible to get on with manual train- 
ing and domestic science rooms in only certain of the buildings, 
so it may well be possible in the immediate future with these 
other facilities equitably distributed throughout the city to get 
along with those for the next few years in similar fashion. Any 
such plan should be looked upon as only temporary, however; 
and to continue only so long as conditions make it necessary. 



BUILDINGS AND EQUIPMENT 347 

A special word needs to be said concerning the gymnasium 
accommodations in the Junior High School. The school is so 
large and the need of physical training opportunity throughout 
the entire year so great that facilities for all should, if possible, 
be provided at the school itself. At present within the buildings 
there is one gymnasium room large enough for the girls or for 
the boys, but not for both. The building is congested because of 
the presence there of the Truant school and of many of the ad- 
ministrative offices. It would seem that one or the other of 
these should give way to the needs of the Junior High School. 
The proposed use of the attic for a boys' gymna.sium seems im- 
practicable owing to the nature of the construction. A gymnasium 
on the fourth floor in such a building would interfere seriously 
with the class work of the floor beneath. If the congested condi- 
tion makes it necessary for the attic to be used at the present 
time, something besides the physical training should be placed 
there. It is clear that the Junior High School building needs an 
addition to provide for gymnasium facilities, even if an addi- 
tional room equal to the present one could be improvised. 
There are at present no adequate dressing rooms, no shower 
baths, no lockers, no swimming pools, etc. There is a fair-sized 
playground, and during good weather it is fully used for physi- 
cal training purposes. During the milder portions of the year, it 
is better than an indoor gymnasium. But Michigan winters are 
long, and there are several months in the year when the outdoor 
grounds can be little used. 

Cloak-Rooms. 

A number of buildings have no cloak-rooms. Hats, wraps, 
etc., are hung: upon hooks along the walls of the corridors. It- 
is an unsightly and in some degree insanitary arrangement. In 
some cases it possibly cannot be easily remedied; but in some 
case certainly a remedy can be found. This probably should be 
done in the case of certain of the more substantial buildings of 
medium age that will be used for decades to come. It is possi- 
ble to provide simple lockers, wall wardrobes with doors, or roll- 
top front. Because of the fact that the classrooms in almost all 
of these buildings are larger than what is now considered a stand- 
ard size, such as exhibited in the Franklin, wardrobes can be 
placed at the back of classrooms in most instances. In other 
cases they can be placed at the side and back. It is not always 
easy to provide ventilating arrangements for such improvised 
wardrobes ; but in many cases this can be done. 

In many cases it is possible to run a partition so as to cut 
off a strip across the side or back of the large classrooms, and 



348 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

thus provide cloak-rooms and storage closets. Where practicable 
this is better than placing the cabinet wardrobes at the back or 
side of the room. Where the corridors are unnecessarily wide, it 
is sometimes possible to utilize a part of the corridor space for 
this purpose. Whether in the corridor or in the classroom, it 
is not necessary in such improvised cloak-rooms for the wall 
to extend to the ceiling. Since it is not usually possible in these 
cases to secure the desirable separate ventilation for such cloak- 
room arrangements, a wall six feet or so in height and finished 
on top to serve as a pedestal for decorations of various kinds 
may well be sufficient. Such screen walls were recently ob- 
served in one of the best and newest elementary buildings in 
Cleveland. 

So far as possible, classrooms and corridors from an aesthe- 
tic point of view should present simplicity of lines, colors and 
decorative efifects. Wardrobes or cloak-room arrangements when 
improvised in this manner require careful judgment to prevent 
an unduly cluttered and confused appearance. While utility in 
such arrangements is the principal thing, it must still be remem- 
bered that from an educational point of view, good appearance 
is one type of utility. 



Economical Use of Large Classrooms. 

It is generally agreed that ordinary classrooms in elementary 
schools need not be so large as those to be found in almost all 
of the buildings of Grand Rapids, except those recently construc- 
ted. If the opportunity afiforded by large classrooms to make 
classes very large is not taken advantage of and abused, probably 
the objections to the larger classrooms are not so serious as some- 
times urged. If seats are rightly placed in reference to the win- 
dow and to the blackboards, and if too large a class is not placed 
in the room, much indeed can be said in favor of the commodious 
spacious classroom. On the other hand, it is somewhat more ex- 
pensive to maintain and operate in matters of fuel, janitor ser- 
vice, repairs, etc. 

The suggestion that we would make is that the excess space 
in the large classrooms be employed for providing variety of 
educational activity. In a number of cases for the grades where 
sewing is taught, it would be well to bring the sewing-machines 
out of poorly lighted basement kitchens and to place the ma- 
chines and necessary tables in the excess space in the large class- 
rooms. The simple laboratory provision necessary for elementary 
science could easily be provided for within such excess space. 



BUILDINGS AND EQUIPMENT 349 

Heating and Ventilation. 

The mode of heating that has been made universal in all of 
the regular buildings of the city is indirect heating of the air fur- 
nished the classrooms by passing it through steam coils in the 
basement, together with direct heating by means of radiators 
usually of the wall type within the classrooms. The ventilation 
is most frequently of the gravity type. This is not and in the 
nature of the case cannot be satisfactory. When the difference in 
the temperature of the outside air and the inside air is not great, 
in autumn and in spring, the circulation of the air is very slug- 
gish. Rooms were visited in which the ventilation was very 
unsatisfactory because of this reason. The system seemed to be 
working as well as it could work under the circumstances. Un- 
der such conditions it is possible to supplement the ventilation 
of the gravity system by means of the windows. In doing so, 
however, a good deal of administrative care is necessary because 
if the windows are opened miscellaneously in the rooms of the 
building, the working of the gravity system is entirely deranged, 
especially if there is any considerable wind blowing. The sup- 
plementary use of windows requires that they be opened and 
closed simultaneously in all of the rooms of the building. 

Forced ventilation by means of a fan should be installed in 
every building as rapidly as conditions permit. In one of the 
buildings, for example, the old gravity boiler is to be taken out 
during the coming summer and a new one installed. It is not, 
however, proposed to install a fan at the same time. We recom- 
mend that as such renewals are made that fans be installed, un- 
less the building is to be replaced by a new structure within a 
relatively short time. 

One finds evidence throughout the system that the board 
of education is doing what it can by way of remedying the ventil- 
ation deficiencies. Serious neglect of the building situation many 
years ago appears to have presented to the board the double 
problem of providing for current necessities as well as making up 
for past deficiencies.. In a few things like ventilation, which is 
so closely related to the health of the entire younger generation, 
it would appear that the city should be fairly generous in provid- 
ing the funds necessary for remedying clearly discernible defic- 
encies left from past management. Certain types of deficiency 
may be deferred ; but those intimately related to the health of the 
young people should receive immediate attention. The board 
is short of funds for doing the work. A little present generosity 
on the part of the city in supplying needed funds cannot but re- 
present prudence and economy in the end. 

Especial attention needs to be called to the ventilation in 



350 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

two or .three domestic science rooms that were visited. These 
rooms were in the basements of the buildings with no ventilation 
except windows, which were small. Because of the fact that the 
windows are small the cooking arrangements need to be placed 
near the windows. Then when the windows are open- 
ed for purposes of ventilation the gas burners are blown 
out and the cooking interfered with. The practical re- 
sult is that the windows are kept closed ; from twenty 
to twenty-five open gas burners are burning and using up the 
oxygen of the air. The room is also lighted at the Hall School 
by means of gas lights which burn up a further supply of the 
oxygen. The result is such a depletion of the oxygen of the 
room that at times the lights burn noticeably dim, and the air is 
of a sufficiently undesirable character for breathing purposes. 
Such domestic science rooms as those at the Diamond School and 
the Hall School are imperatively in need of an adequate ventil- 
ation system. 

An attempt seems to have been made in all cases to provide 
ventilation for the toilet rooms. It is generally of the gravity 
type, and often not very serviceable. In one building odors from 
the toilet rooms were clearly distinguishable in a second-story 
classroom, and in more than one case it was possible while visit- 
ing classrooms on the first floor to determine under which end of 
the corridor the toilet rooms were placed simply from atmos- 
pheric evidence. In all cases examined the janitors seemed to be 
doing all that the building arrangements would admit of. In no 
case met with was the deficiency really very serious at the time. 
The arrangements, however, are such that in certain buildings 
there must be at times serious annoyance due to imperfect ven- 
tilation. Doubtless the board and the business management is 
ready to remedy conditions as soon as the community is willing 
to provide them with the means for doing so. The sanitary ar- 
rangements of the toilet rooms in the matter of ventilation should 
be made as perfect in all buildings as they now are in the new 
buildings. 

In the old buildings in every case examined the fresh air 
intake is on a level with the street, the alley, or the adjacent 
playground. In many cases on windy days a large amount of 
dust is unnecessarily warmed and sent to all of the classrooms of 
the buildings. In nearly all cases, the cold air chamber was used 
as a storage room. In one of them we found a pile of sand, a 
quantity of kindling made up of wood, bark, and the accumulated 
trash of several months, old boxes and barrels, a large quantity 
of dry modelling clay, with everything covered with a heavy 
coating of dust. In only one case was a cold air chamber visited 



BUILDINGS AND EQUIPMENT 351 

that was not used in some measure for storage purposes. In this 
one case the walls and ceiling, and even the floor were newly 
Avhitewashed. This represents a condition that should be gen- 
eral instead of highly exceptional ; but even here the work had 
only recently been done, and the air intake was from a sandy, 
dusty, playground. Even if not used as a storage chamber, it 
must soon become a dust chamber through which the air must 
pass to the lungs of the children in the classroom. The cold air 
intake should, wherever possible, be elevated ten or fifteen feet 
above the surface of the earth, even in the case of the old 
buildings. 

The Lighting of the Buildings. 

In occasional instances only are rooms supplied with too 
small a quantity of efifective lighting surface. Often it is badly 
distributed over two or three sides of the room, but can usually 
be made to serve lighting purposes without serious alteration. 

In certain of the buildings the window proper is short and 
has a transom above it. Above the transom there is a wide space 
between transom and ceiling. The presence of the transom en- 
tails some six inches or more of opaque space between the glass 
of the window and that of the transom. In many cases the 
transom was frosted years ago, but is now a dark gray, and prac- 
tically impervious to light. In certain rooms lighted with win- 
dows of this type, there appears to be insufTicent illumination of 
the desks on the far side of the rooms from the window. Just 
outside of more than one such room there are trees the foliage of 
which prevents effective window illumination. Occasionally, too, 
there is a larger amount of light-absorbing blackboard space 
than is necessary. 

In three buildings, rooms were observed in which the illumi- 
nation was from the pupils' right. In not one of the cases was 
it really necessary. The desks need to be turned around and 
made to face the other way. 

In very many classrooms, there are two or three small win- 
dows at the top of the wall, at either the back or the front of 
the room. Sometimes these are at the front and are of clear 
glass with the shades not drawn. This means a deleterious 
glare upon the pupils' eyes when they are reading from the 
blackboard, or from wall maps at the front of the room. Over 
such front windows the shades should be kept drawn. Where 
similar windows at the back of the room mean an injurious glare 
upon the teacher's eyes, the blinds there should also be kept 
drawn. 

Rooms having such front or back lighting are sometimes 



352 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

so imperfectly illuminated from the side as apparently to re- 
quire the use of these small windows for purposes of illumination, 
especially upon cloudy days. The glare from the clear glass of 
such open windows is as serious upon dark days as upon light 
ones, — possibly even more so because of the character of the 
diffused light. Such rooms should probably be provided with 
a ceiling that is perfectly white or only faintly tinted, and with 
prismatic glass or some other reflecting device for the small 
windows, the purpose of which is to throw the light against the 
white ceiling and the light-tinted upper portion of the walls. 
This permits the entrance of the light, but throws it downwards 
indirectly, producing the soft and very desirable indirect light- 
ing. 

Where the back windows are of full size and because of the 
inadequacy of the side windows must be used for the illumi- 
nation of a portion of the room, arrangements should be pro- 
vided by way of minimizing the glare in the face of the teacher 
as fully as possible. The glare is likely to be chiefly from the 
upper half of the window, the lower half being below the hori- 
zon line. A device that tends to deflect the light upward in 
ways above mentioned will also here prove to be at least a part- 
ial solution. 

In many cases the side windows have transoms which were 
painted years ago and are practically impervious to light. These 
side windows should be utilizied as fully as possible for the 
room illumination. Such transoms should be cleaned of all 
paint and provided with transom shades, for use when shades 
have to be drawn. In general such side windows should not 
have transoms, because of the wide opaque bar between the 
transom glass and the window glass. The whole of the space 
should be a single window. Where the side transoms are low, 
it is possible that they should often be of prism glass so as to 
throw the light to the far side of the room, or the windows 
should be extended upward. 

In a few cases the trees, during the months when they are in 
foliage, greatly obscure the illumination of the classrooms. While 
trees in the school yards are desirable, if they are properly placed, 
they are undesirable when improperly placed. There can be no 
more justification for placing a bank of foliage in front of a win- 
dow where the school work requires good light than there is of 
building a stone wall in front of such a window. The board of 
education has carefully protected the children from the presence 
of such an obstructing wall. They must equally protect from ob- 
structing banks of foliage. 

Present and past boards of education are to be commended 



BUILDINGS AND EQUIPMENT 353 

for having- placed the additions to buildings in such wise as 
usually not to obscure the lighting of rooms already constructed. 
A mistake of this type, though not a serious one, was observed 
at the Hall School ; but it is very rare. 

The tinting of the rooms is not always related to the illumi- 
nation. In standardizing the color schemes the authorities have 
chosen very satisfactory tints, which seem, however, to be ap- 
plied uniformly throughout a building. Rooms of south illumi- 
nation receive exactly the same treatment as rooms of north 
illumination. Poorly lighted corridors and cloak rooms are 
treated exactly the same as rooms brilliantly lighted from south 
exposure. It would appear that rooms having only north light 
should have a color scheme that is lighter and brighter and 
warmer than rooms that face the south. It would seem that 
rooms having east and west exposure — the orientation that repre- 
sents the current building policy of the board, — should probably 
be intermediate between that of north and south rooms. Ground 
floor rooms should probably receive slightly different treatment 
from those of the clearer second story. Poorly lighted corridors, 
closets, cloak-rooms, etc., should certainly receive a treatment 
dift'erent from that of the well-lighted outer portions of the 
building-. A classroom in which the light area is small in pro- 
portion to the floor space should be given a bright tint, while a 
room with an excess of lighting area, of which there are several 
in the city, should be given darker tones. 

The older buildings that are to be used for many years yet 
should be carefully studied by way of making their appearance 
light, bright, and attractive. The old school buildings are most 
in need of it. In general, buildings are clean, and present a good 
appearance from outside. Much, however, that could be done 
inside with white enamel paint has not yet been done. 

The window shades in a few rooms visited were in very bad 
condition ; and in one or two rooms there were no shades of any 
kind. It was explained that the old ones had worn out some 
time ago, and that their turn had not yet arrived for receiving 
new shades. The translucent shades recently furnished are not 
of satisfactory character for controlling the light in certain of the 
classrooms, because of their open texture. A smooth, non- 
porous blind of white or cream would not only be more service- 
able, but would give a far better eft'ect to the appearance of the 
room. 

Teachers appear often to be negligent in the management 
of the shades. In certain rooms visited the shades w^ere not 
drawn over the small windows above the blackboard at the 
front of the room, althoup-h not needed for illumination of the 



354 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

room. The same was noticed in the management of the blinds 
over the small upper back windows. Where side windows furn- 
ished the major illumination and where this is excessive, as in a 
few cases, shades were not drawn with a view to cutting off the 
frontal glare in the eyes of the pupils by lowering chiefly those 
at the front of the room and leaving the rear ones full height. 
Rooms were sometimes dark because blinds that had been 
drawn in the morning, when the sunlight reached the windows, 
were left at the same position when the sun was at the other side 
of the building. 

In certain cases the light in the corridors might be greatly 
increased through the use of glass doors for the buildings. The 
lower corridor of the Junior High School, for example, and espec- 
ially the stairs leading from the lower corridor to the second 
floor are very dark on the brightest days. Artificial illumination 
is provided, but the lights were not usually turned on when the 
building was visited. The use of glass doors at the front of the 
building, the removal of obstructions now in the corridors, and 
a more generous use of white surfaces would very greatly re- 
lieve the difficulty. 

The classrooms in the old buildings face all directions. In 
its new buildings the board has wisely decreed that classrooms 
shall face either the east or the west, but not the north or the 
south. This policy should be adhered to in the building of addi- 
tions to old buildings. To adhere to this policy in the building 
of additions it is not always possible to introduce the factor of 
building symmetry. This, however, is not necessary. All of the 
rooms in the recent addition to the Alexander building face the 
south, when they may just as well have faced east and west. In 
the new addition to the Sigsbee, four new rooms have only north 
light. 

Noises 

In the construction of the newer buildings the tendency is 
clearly discernible to place them on streets where there are no 
car lines. A number of the older buildings are near car lines. 
A few of them are so very near that the work is disturbed by 
noises and dust. As old buildings are replaced by new ones, this 
condition can be remedied by securing a different site within 
the district. 

In one case the work of the building seemed to be consider- 
ably disturbed by the noises from a near-by garage, livery stable, 
and blacksmith shop. There should be city ordinances that for- 
bid the location of establishments of this character within a 
certain minimum distance from school buildings. 

In general it can be said that ^he buildings are so placed 



BUILDINGS AND EQUIPMENT 355 

that children are not appreciably disturbed by noises coming in 
from the neighborhood. The writer can recall no single case of 
a class having been disturbed by any such noises during the 
period of his visit. 

Seating 

The newer buildings are supplied with adjustable seats and 
desks of modern kind. Occasionally in the older buildings one 
finds adjustable desks. As a rule, however, except in the recent 
buildings, all of the desks of a room are of the same size and are 
non-adjustable. Since the children within a class are never all 
of the same size, the results everywhere in such rooms is that 
some of the larger children have to work in seats and at desks 
that are much too small for them, and in other cases the seats 
and desks are too large or too high for the children. In one 
building a whole sixth grade class was observed seated at desks 
of a size appropriate for fourth-grade children. 

Adjustable desks should be furnished all of the classrooms 
of the city. It is not necessary to supply the entire room with 
this type of desk. One or two rows of adjustables placed through 
the middle of the rooms will provide for the necessities of the 
children who are exceptionally large or small. This has already 
been done in a few classrooms in the city. It should be made 
universal until such time as the non-adjustable desks have dis- 
appeared. It may be urged that the old non-adjustable desks are 
in stock and that the city cannot afiford to scrap them until full 
service has been secured from them. Our recommendation is 
not that they be scraped, but that they be so distributed through 
the city that every room will have some of the adjustables and 
some of the non-adjustables. Certain rooms, especially in the 
newer buildings, are equipped wholly with adjustables. Some of 
those could be distributed to other buildings, and the non-adjust- 
ables used in part in the newer buildings, until such time as the 
city can afford proper seating for all. 

It is also possible to place within the classrooms, using the 
desks at present in stock, one row of desks larger than the aver- 
age size used in the room, and one row that is smaller than the 
average size. 

Seats and desks in one of the buildings were observed that 
were very old, instable, and loose in the joints. The surfaces 
of the desks were so rough and uneven that certain of them were 
very unsuitable for writing. The wood presented evidences 
of the setting in of dry rot. At some stages in their career seats 
must be adjudged to have served their day. Evidently some of 



356 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

those in the Michigan building have served more than their 
time. 

In tv\^o or three buildings large numbers of broken, unser- 
viceable desks w^ere found stored in the basement. Since the 
space is sometimes needed, since they can only gather dust and 
present an undesirable appearance, and since portions of them 
can be used for the repair or rebuilding of desks, all such accumu- 
lations of broken desks should be removed to the repair rooms. 
Rough desk tops can there be re-surfaced and re-varnished. 

Special attention should be given to the seating of special 
rooms. In the rooms for the auxiliary class in one of the new 
buildings, there were seats and desks for twenty-five pupils, al- 
though the class is only about half this size. It would usually 
be better to supply such rooms with movable furniture, chairs, 
tables, sewing-machines, work benches, etc. While certain of 
the systematic handwork will be obtained in the regular shop, 
kitchen, etc., the rooms for auxiliary children should certainly be 
equipped so as to permit a large variety of practical activities. 

Movable chair-desks are now used in certain of these special 
rooms in the city. In buildings where there is a lack of indoor 
play space for rooms in which a variety of special activities are 
desirable, the movable chair-desk offers large assistance in 
the solution of the problem. We recommend both to the board 
and to the professional people a consideration of the use of 
movable furniture by way of solving certain of the present prob- 
lems. 

The Cleaning of Buildings 

In the matter of cleanliness all buildings presented a favor- 
able appearance. Even when the woodwork w^as old, roughened, 
and discolored, it appeared to be at least clean and sanitary. 

Vacuum cleaning has been introduced into all of the more 
recently .constructed buildings and vacuum systems have been 
installed in a few of the older buildings. The systems were 
observed in operation in more than one building and the cleaning 
was proceeding without the scattering of dust. In two build- 
ings visited in which vacuum cleaning systems are found, dry 
sweeping with brooms and without the use of any sweeping- 
compound was raising clouds of dust and making the air im- 
possible for healthful breathing. It is clear that certain of the 
vacuum cleaning systems in the city need looking into. Where 
a system will not work, a mistake has been made in the original 
purchase, in the installation, or in the current management. 
Whatever be the cause of the difficulty, the system should be 
made to work, or removed from the building and disposed of. 

Dry SAveeping is the plan employed in all buildings that have 



BUILDINGS AND EQUIPMENT 357 

not vacuum cleaning systems. In no case observed were janitors 
using sweeping compounds either in classrooms or in corridors. 
During the sweeping period buildings are filled with dust, which 
settles down upon the floors, etc., to be kicked up by the children 
and breathed during the following day. The use of a good 
sweeping compound Avould remove the dust from classrooms 
and corridors instead of leaving it there for the children to 
breathe. 

Blackboards 

In the newer buildings and here and there in other build- 
ings one finds blackboard slate of good quality. It is the best 
type of blackboard, except that made of glass, — which is not yet 
commonly used in America. The objections to very many of the 
plaster blackboards used throughout the city and repainted oc- 
casionally is that they tend to grow too "shiny," and because of 
reflections make it difficult or impossible for pupils to read black- 
board Avriting from certain positions within the room. 

In only one building were the blackboards observed to have 
holes in them with the mortar and sand coming out. Every- 
where else they seemed to be in a proper state of repair. 

In the rooms of a number of the older buildings, there is 
clearly too large a quantity of blackboard space. The wide 
board at the front may well be retained. In such cases the 
upper portions of side and back boards may be cut off by a 
moulding and thf. upper portions of the blackboard tinted to 
harmonize with the vvall above; or it can be used, as in many 
instances at present, as a panel for pictures, pupils' papers, 
drawings, etc. 

In a number of cases small segments of the blackboard are 
to be found between back or side windows. Blackboards should 
never be placed in such position. They should be removed or 
painted the wall color. 

Except for one or two subjects, a large amount of black- 
board space is not desirable. There should be not a single foot 
more of blackboard than is necessary. An interesting device 
was observed at one of the buildings that enabled a school to 
have all of the blackboard space that it needs in times of great- 
est demand, without making a large amount of fixed classroom 
blackboard necessary. The school owns forty small blackboards, 
about 3^ by 3^ feet, of light wood, each mounted upon two 
thin legs, so as to bring it to the proper height. The board can 
be moved to any desired position and stood against the wall, 
doors, cabinets, etc. When it is no longer needed, it can be 



358 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

pushed into a storage closet. Being only ^ of an inch in thick- 
ness, not a great deal of storage space is required. 

Floors 

Recently laid floors, whether in new or old buildings ap- 
pear to be always of close-grained hardwood, — maple in every 
instance examined. Pine or other loose-grained wood seems not 
to be used. 

Many of the floors in the older buildings are dark and un- 
sightly because of an excessive use of oil. There are reasons to 
think that the floors in these rooms where children spend so 
many of the formative years of their existence should be as clean, 
as bright, and attractive as the floors in a well-kept home. 

In most cases the basement playrooms have been given a 
good flooring. In two or three buildings visited, this playroom 
had a floor of cement. The dust of the cement combined with 
the dust entering from the outside playgrounds through the 
windows makes the air practically impossible for play purposes. 
All playrooms need a floor that will not produce dust, and one 
that is not so hard as cement. Wood or battle linoleum such 
as found in the corridors of the new South High School should 
be used. 

Toilet Rooms 

All buildings are supplied with automatic flushing toilet 
facilities of modern type. The rooms are usually sufficiently 
large, usually well lighted. The stalls are provided with doors, 
and placed along the sides of the room so as not to obscure the 
light of the usually small windows around the top of the room. 
An excellent quality of individual porcelain fixtures with open 
front wood seats were the only type observed. The ventilation 
has already been discussed. 

A single wash-basin is the usual allowance provided each 
of the toilet rooms throughout the city. In some cases this is a 
good modern porcelain standing wash-basin with running water, 
and in other cases it is nothing more than a soapstone sink with 
no plug provided that permits the holding of the water. The 
only possibility of use is to hold the hands under the faucet, the 
sink being of use only for catching the waste water and carrying 
it away. In a few cases bar soap was found, and in a few cases 
there were paper towels on the rack. More often, however, there 
was no soap of any kind, and while paper towels seemed to be 
commonly a portion of the stock in the storeroom, they were 
often not present on the racks provided. 

These washing facilities are inadequate in almost every way. 



BUILDINGS AND EQUIPMENT 359 

The soapstone sinks are not of the right character. One to a 
toilet room intended to accommodate several score children at a 
time is wholly insufficient. Bar soap is not much better than the 
common roller towel from a sanitary point of view. The de- 
ficiency is to be noted in the newer buildings as well as in the 
older ones. The provision of toilet facilities for teachers and 
principal separate from that of the children is not usual. There 
should be such provision. 

A very small number of shower baths have been installed 
in connection with the toilet rooms in the newer buildings. In 
most cases they are not much used because of the lack of dress- 
ing booths, of curtains for the showers, etc. When the statement 
is made that it is useless to provide bathing facilities simply 
because recent experience in certain of the buildings show that 
they are not used, it must be replied that the proper conditions 
for use have not been supplied at the same time. Further 
facilities are indeed needed, but they need to be placed in proxi- 
mity to the gymnasium, instead of their present distribution and 
location. After being properly located they should be provided 
with dressing booths, locker facilities, and the possibility of a 
greater degree of privacy. 

The Playgrounds 

The playground facilities provided for the use of the different 
schools are very unequal in amount. Certain of the buildings are 
well provided. At others the playgrounds are much too small. 
The board is to be commended in its policy of enlarging the 
smaller playgrounds as rapidly as conditions permit. A good 
minimum standard to set is 100 square feet per pupil in average 
daily attendance. 

The surfacing of playgrounds is a serious problem. The 
grounds at more than one of the buildings are surfaced with a 
mixture of loose sand, gravel, and clay. At one of the buildings 
visited on a windy day great clouds of dust arose from the 
children's play. When the wind is blowing towards the building, 
the result is that the ventilation shafts and the rooms receive 
too large a supply of dust from such a playground. In wet 
weather the sand and clay is carried into the rooms on the 
children's shoes. 

A number of the playgrounds need either to be filled or to 
have more adequate facilities for draining. Grounds should be 
so drained that they are available for play on practically every 
day of the year, except during the time when it is actually raining. 



360 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

Open-Air Rooms 

The board of education seems to have supplied no open-air 
rooms for the anemic and tubercular children of the city. Neither 
the old nor the new building provide open-air rooms. In observ- 
ing the two open-air schools in connection with the Sigsbee and 
the West Leonard Schools, everything except the teacher and 
the instruction supplies appear to be furnished by voluntary co- 
operative organizations, instead of by the board of education. 

The beneficent results of the open-air treatment of certain 
types of children are so evident, it seems that the board should 
consider whether it should not arrange for at least one sunny 
open-air room in each new building that is constructed ; and to 
provide for such a room here and there in the buildings already 
in use. 



CHAPTER XIV 

THE COST OF PUBLIC EDU 

CATION IN GRAND 

RAPIDS 



Harold O. Rugg 



Grand Rapids is very liberal in its endowment of public edu- 
cation. There are many outstanding facts which indicate most 
definitely the extent of this liberality. It spends more for 
school purposes and devotes a larger part of its municipal 
money to schools than most cities of the same wealth; it 
does not, however, take advantage of its capacity for making 
permanent improvements through taxation, for it sells bonds 
for such purposes wdien all needed funds could be raised 
through local taxation ; it provides a sufficient number of teach- 
ers to permit instruction of pupils in small classes ; it pays teach- 
ers better salaries than do most other cities of its class ; it does 
not, however, endow supervision of instruction on as adequate 
a basis as other cities of its class ; while spending more per pupil 
for both business and educational purposes it spends a larger pro- 
portion of its school money on business activities than do other 
cities of its class. In its distribution of money for educational 
activities it spends about the same amount per pupil for admin- 
istration, operation, maintenance and instruction but gives a 
larger proportion of its school money to overhead expenses and 
upkeep of school plant than it does to instruction and operation 
of the plant. On analyzing its expenditures in detail we find 
that with the exception of supervisory activities Grand Rapids 
ranks high among cities of its class in the support that it gives to 
each type of activity; when measured in terms of per pupil cxt 
penditure elementary and secondary schools are both more liber- 
ally supported than in other cities of the same wealth: at the 



362 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

same time a much larger proportionate amount of financial sup- 
port is given to high schools. 

Chapter XIV of this report will support by detailed evidence 
and comment the above statement concerning school finance in 
Grand Rapids. 

Definition of Various Terms Used in This Report. 

1. Administration. The term administration will be used in 
this report to denote the activities of the central offices. These 
include the following: 1. The superintendent's office, including 
assistant superintendents, officer in charge of attendance and hy- 
giene ; 2. The office of the business manager and the entire cen- 
tral staffs of the superintendent of buildings and the supply clerk. 

2. Supervision and Instruction will include the activities of 
all school supervisors whether of ''subjects" or of "grades"; all 
principals and their clerks ; all teachers of whatever grade. 

3. Operation will apply to all activities of operating the 
plant, including for Grand Rapids the following: all work of 
janitors, assistant janitors, janitresses and engineers, and any 
other operating employees ; fuel ; and janitors' and engineers' sup- 
plies. 

4. Maintenance will apply to all activities connected with 
repairs to buildings, replacement of equipment, etc., whether 
concerned with labor or materials. 

5. "Capital Outlays" will apply to all activities connected 
with permanent improvements to school plant, building of new 
buildings, acquisition of school sites, etc. In general the terms 
used will follow the accepted definition of the National Associa- 
tion of School Accounting Officers and the United States Bureau 
of Education in connection with the "standard form" of the 
Bureau of Education for reporting school financial facts. 

6. Current Expenditure is a term applied to all expendi- 
tures, exclusive of capital outlay, incurred in the running of the 
public schools during one year. It includes Administration, Sup- 
ervision and Instruction, Operation and Maintenance. 

7. Under Business Purposes will be included the activities 
of: 1. All offices in charge of Buildings, Supplies, Auditing and 
Finance; 2. All operation of Buildings; 3. All maintenance of 
Buildings. 

8. Under Educational Purposes will be included activities 
of: 1. The Superintendent's offices, salaries and expenses; 2. 
Salaries and expenses of supervisors and principals; 3. Salaries 
of teachers; 4. Educational supplies; 5. Textbooks; 6. All other 
"instructional" expense for schools. 

9. "Average." In this report all ''average" expenditures are 



COST OF PUBLIC EDUCATION 363 

computed by the commonly used "simple average" (or arithmetic 
mean) obtained by adding up the total scores and dividing by 
the number of cities. 

10. Cost Accounting will include all activities of: 1. Distri- 
buting charges against buildings, departments, and funds ; 2. The 
computation of current ''unit costs" ; 3. The preparation of cost 
data for Grand Rapids' activities in previous years (called "his- 
torical" cost studies) ; 4. The preparation of comparisons of 
costs in Grand Rapids and other cities (called "comparative" 
cost studies) ; 5. The interpretation and application of the cost 
computations to improving school practice. 

A. The Legal Basis of the Public Schools 

At the present time, the Grand Rapids school system is opera- 
ting under the charter granted the city in 1905, and revised in 
1907. There are four definite financial provisions in these charter- 
ed pov^ers of the Board: 1. A statement of the commencement 
of the fiscal year; 2. The time for estimating taxes for the en- 
suing year; 3. The method of raising revenue and the limit of 
possible taxation for school purposes ; 4. The methods and limi- 
tations of borrowing money for temporary school purposes and 
for permanent improvements. 

1. The first two of these provisions can hardly be said to 
be planned to aid the business department of the schools in 
its annual treatment of educational data. The financial year is to 
commence April 1st of each year. This provision if followed out, 
would result in a bad adjustment of the financial accounting to 
important problems of school administration. A school year 
naturally ends with the month of June. The annual reporting of 
school facts, the determination of annual per capita costs in terms 
of pupil enrollment and attendance, the estimating of supplies 
needed for the ensuing year as determined by current usage, the 
planning of the various items in the budget ; all these and other 
necessary phases of school practice concur in a demand for a fin- 
ancial year coinciding with that of the educational department. 
Notwithstanding the chartered provisions, the Board of Educa- 
tion has recognized the needs of the situation, and for the past 
ten years has operated under a financial year commencing with 
July 1st. 

2. Section 12 of the revised charter (1907) states that the 
Board shall annually make an estimate of taxes necessary for the 
ensuing year on or before the first Monday in March. This 
means that the business department is forced to undertake the 
task of planning a scientific budget for the ensuing year shortly 
after the middle of the current year. Instead of being able to 



364 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

rely on fairly complete expense data for the current year, the 
business department is compelled to resort very largely to data 
for previous years. The Board of Education should look forward 
to the time when such a change can be effected in these provi- 
sions that both the commencement of the financial year and the 
time of estimating taxes for school purposes can be moved for- 
ward to more closely approximate the limits of the school year. 

3. The Board of Education of the city of Grand Rapids has 
not the power to levy taxes for the support of schools. Its 
legal powers include only the estimating of the amount of taxes 
deemed necessary for such support. The actual levying of taxes 
can be done only by the single taxing body of the city, namely 
the Common Council. It is advised in its decisions as to the 
apportionment of the city budget and the levying of taxes by a 
Board of Estimate, composed of the mayor, the city clerk, the 
city comptroller, three members of the Common Council, and 
three citizens to be appointed annually by the mayor. In both 
appointment and composition the Common Council and the 
Board of Estimate are political organizations. The business de- 
partment of the Board of Education, during the last ten years has 
attempted to develop an adequate system of budget making de- 
signed to secure financial support that will closely approximate 
the real demands of the system. (A more complete treatment of 
this subject will be taken up in a later section of this report.) 
These attempts at scientific budget making are defeated by plac- 
ing the levying power in the hands of a political body, elected by 
wards and not primarily interested in securing the best provision 
for complete educational development in the city. Officers of 
the Board of Education have recognized the needs of this situa- 
tion and have considered ways and means of effecting definite 
changes in its legal status that would result in a more thorough 
and scientific (and less political) control of the annual school 
budgetary and tax levying procedure. It is to be regretted that 
changes have not yet been effected that will give the Board of 
Education power to pass finally upon the budget, and establish its 
own bonding policies in school matters. There are now several 
cities and a few states in the country that give the power to levy 
school taxes to the Board of Education. California, Ohio and Kan- 
sas are illustrative of this practice. In these cases there are cer- 
tain restrictions on the taxing powers of the Board, such as the 
statement of the maximum amount of taxes that may be raised 
on the assessed valuation of real property in the city. Missouri 
has seen fit to give St. Louis and Kansas City full taxing powers, 
with an upper limit beyond which they cannot tax themselves for 
school purposes, of six mills on the dollar. The list of cities in 



COST OF PUBLIC EDUCATION 305 

which the Boards of Education have complete taxing power in- 
cludes Chicago, Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Boston, 
Denver, Portland, and Seattle. 

The Limit of Possible School Revenue. 

In any one year the Board of Education can raise by taxa- 
tion not more than five mills on the dollar of assessed valuation 
for general school purposes. In addition, it has what is known 
as a one-mill tax. For buildings, new sites, and for paying school 
bonds it can raise an additional five mills on the dollar. Table 
LXIII presents a detailed analysis of the property valuation and 
the money raised by taxation for school purposes during the past 
ten years. Diagrams LXXVIII and LXXIX show the curves of 
possible revenue for general purposes and for permanent im- 
provements, together with the curves of actual expenditures for 
these two major purposes. 

Several outstanding facts may be listed as a basis for dis- 
cussion : 

1. The assessed valuation of the city has more than doubled 
in ten years. Half of this increase is a result of the recent reas- 
sessment of property values made last year. 

2. The amount of taxes raised for general school purposes 
has increased more than four fold in ten years. 

3. The amount of money raised annually by taxation during 
the past ten years has been practically constant, (in spite of the 
fact that over a million dollars have been raised by bond sales 
for permanent improvements). 

4. There has been a remarkably rapid increase in the num- 
ber of mills raised for general purposes, increasing from 2.29 and 
1.94 mills in 1906 and 1907 respectively, to 5.46, 5.30 and 5.30 in 
1912, 1913 and 1914. 

5. In the past ten years Grand Rapids has never levied more 
than 1.89 mills for permanent improvements. It has very gener- 
ally taken out of the annual budget about one-third of its priv- 
ileged amount for these purposes. 

The table will bear more minute analysis. From 1902 to 
1913 the assessed valuation of property in Grand Rapids in- 
creased slowly, averaging less than $3,000,000.00 a year. Previous 
to 1902, in 1900 and 1901, there were large increases, $16,000,000 
and $13,000,000 respectively. Again in 1915 a complete reassess- 
ment of property values was made, raising the total valuation by 
$50,000,(XX). For the entire fifteen years the valuation increased 
at an average rate of $8,000,000 a year. 

In the mean time, the tax for general purposes has been 



366 



SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 



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COST OF PUBLIC EDUCATION 369 

going: up by leaps and bounds. In ten years it has increased $550,- 
000, an average of $55,000 a year. The lack of parallel between 
the increase in general tax and assessed valuation of property 
caused the number of mills raised to come dangerously near the 
legal limit in 1912, 1913 and 1914. In 1912 it would have^been 
possible to put into the budget for general purposes only $50,000 
more; in 1913 and 1914 about $70,000 and $80,000 respectively. 
At a normal increase of $8,000,000 a year from 1914 to 1915, in- 
stead of $50,000,000 that the city was given there would have been 
available an assessed valuation of $121,000,000. To raise the bud- 
get of $726,000 would have required the tax of exactly six mills, 
and this would have left the Board of Education in the position 
of having utilized every possible source of income for general 
school purposes. 

However, the increase which came as a result of the reas- 
essment of property values in 1915 is an indication of two facts: 
First, the valuation during the years 1911-1914 was probably too 
low, and hence the proximity of the total mill tax for general 
school purposes to the legal limit (5.46, 5.30, 5.30) had not in it 
the elements of danger that we would have at first inferred. It 
is probably true that had an adequate estimate been made in 1912, 
that at least $125,000,000 would have been found which, with a 
budget of $509,000, would have resulted in a mill tax of slightly 
over four mills. 

Second. Probably not for many 3^ears will there be such 
an increment in the assessed valuation as was made last year. 
If we project the past experience of the city into the future, the 
next few years will see relatively small additions to the valuation. 
With a budget for general school purposes increasing at the rate 
at which it has increased in the past ten years, will the Board 
again soon face the question : "How raise money for general 
school purposes?" 

Let us take a concrete case. Assume that the assessed val- 
uation of thecity will, increase annually $8,000,000. Assume that 
the Board's annual increase in expenditure will be $55,000 (the 
average annual increase for the past ten years.) What will be 
the mill tax situation five, ten and fifteen years hence? We set 
down the facts below : 

YEAR Assessed Valuation General Tax No. of Mills Levied 

1920 $203,000,000 $1,001,000 4.98 

1925 243,000,000 1,276,000 5.26 

1930 283,000,000 1,551,000 5.48 

If property valuations and school expenditures should 
continue to develop in the next fifteen years as they have in the 
past fifteen years, it is doubtless true that the Board would face 
no serious difiiculty in financing the public schools. At the same 



370 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

time, it would be working so near the legal limit of revenue that 
an unusual demand upon the financial resources of the Board 
in any one year would be hard to meet. There is, of course, no 
assurance that the capacity of the city, as shown by assessed 
valuation, will develop at the rate at which it has developed in 
the past. If it should not, the Board within a few years, will have 
to face a situation demanding some retrenchment. The fact 
that in the past three years the mill tax has been close to the legal 
limit is suggestive of the need for a constructive plan for handling 
this matter in the future. 

The other outstanding fact, concerning the utilization of the 
city's financial resources, is that in spite of a heavy outlay for 
permanent improvements, the city has never taken advantage of 
its burgetary possibilities in the matter of school plant. This 
question will be discussed in full in the section dealing with che 
bonding policy of the Board of Education. 

4. To provide for emergencies, the Board is given power to 
borrow money temporarily in a total sum not to exceed $30,000 
in any one year, this loan to be paid out of the first school money 
collected thereafter. During recent years, the Board has had to 
take advantage of this power but once, in 1914-1915, when a 
mistake in estimating the amount of money to be received frorh 
the state primary fund caused a deficit in current funds. For 
purposes of permanent improvements, the Board may borrow 
such money as it deems necessary (subject to approval by the 
Common Council) and on such terms as it deems wise. The 
only restrictions placed on the bonding powers of the school 
district are that no bonds shall be sold for less than par, bear 
more than five per cent interest, or run more than twenty years. 
The question of bonding and bonding policies, borrowing on 
short term notes, etc., will be discussed fully in a later section of 
this report. 

5. Important to the later discussion of the general organiza- 
tion of the school system, and of the relation of the business and 
educational departments, is the provision' that the Board may 
apportion to its administrative officers, the superintendent of 
schools and the business manager, such duties as it sees fit. Thus 
it is clear that aside from questions of taxation, bonding, and gen- 
eral finance, the Board of Education is unhampered in determin- 
ing the methods of organization and administration of the pub- 
lic schools of the city. 

Section B. The Sources and Amounts of Revenue of the 
Board of Education 
Table LXIV summarizes the sources and amounts of reven- 
ue of the Board of Education for the ten years 1906-1915 inclus- 



COST OF PUBLIC EDUCATION 371 

ive. During- that time the total net receipts of the Board have 
nearly, tripled, and the funds raised by local taxation have 
doubled. With the exception of 1912, during the years 1909 to 
date the Board has obtained about 20 per cent of its income from 
its apportionment of the state primary fund. It may be noted 
that this is a larger proportion of city school revenues coming 
from a state school fund than v^ill be found in most states. It is 
common to find 90 per cent or more of the school revenues raised 
by local taxation. The amount of the apportionment is deter- 
mined by the number of children of school census age (5 to 19 
years inclusive). For some time past it has been felt that the 
annual school census was not resulting in an accurate statement 
of the number of persons of school census age. The recently 
organized Bureau of Census has estimated that Grand Rapids 
should have a considerably larger number of persons reported at 
the ages 5 to 19 inclusive than has been reported. If this esti- 
mate is correct, it would mean that the Board would receive 
from the state primary fund each year several thousand dollars 
more than is indicated in the table. Within the past year, a con- 
tinuing census has been established in the office of the business 
manager, and plans have been perfected for obtaining a correct 
count of the persons of school age. 

Furthermore, the business department is somewhat hamp- 
ered in its planning of the annual budget by uncertainty as to 
the size of the state primary apportionment. With the exception 
of 1912, the size of the fund has been fairly constant, running 
about $220,000. In that year, the date of apportionment of the 
state fund was changed from May to July, with a consequent loss 
to the Board of some $200,000 of primary money. This deficit 
was made up by a legislative permission to borrow $225,000 of 
the city, the same to be paid in three annual installments of 
$75,000 each. 

The Relation of Revenue Receipts to Current Expenditure 
of the Board of Education. During the last ten years the Board 
of Education has increased both its expenditures and its revenues 
very rapidly. Has the one increased more rapidly than the 
other? Table LXV presents the relation between revenue re- 
ceipts and the annual expenditures during the past ten years. 
These data have been taken from the Annual Reports of the 
United States Commissioner of Education for 1906 to 1915 in- 
clusive, as compiled and reported by the business manager of the 
Grand Rapids Board of Education. An examnation has been 
made of the records from which the data for 1915 were reported 
to the Commissioner, and it is evident that the data, although 



372 



SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 



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COST OF PUBLIC EDUCATION ^7Z 

not classified in the Board's accounts on the same basis as that 
used by the Bureau of Education, have been reclassified and 
reported with care. Since the data are organized in the required 



YEAR 

1906 

1907 

1908 

1909 

1910 

1911 

1912 

1913 

1914 

1915 



Expenditure 

Total 

Expenilitures 

438,661 


TABLE LXV 
s to Revenue R 

Revenue Receipts 
482,645 
561,871 
561,371 
621,805 
612,274 
728,149 
466,855 
841,032 
884,882 
966.222 


.eceipts 1906-1915*. 

Excess of Excess of 
Expenditures Receipts Over 
Over Receipts Expenditures 
43.984 


435,570 




126,301 


504,822 




56,549 


536,010 




85,795 


537,660 




74,614 


552,250 




175,899 


637,210 


170,355 


665,227 


175,805 


725,521 




159,361 


764.398 




201.824 



* Data as reported by Business Manag-er of Board of Education to U. S. Com- 
missioner of Education, Annual Reports 1906-1915, Vol. II. 

form, it is more convenient to take them from the Commissioner's 
Reports. 

The table shows that the expenditures of the Board of Edu- 
cation have exceeded the revenue receipts but once in the past 
ten years. In 1912 there was a serious deficit in the teachers' 
salary fund, due to the fact that the May apportionment of the 
state primary fund was not made. As we have noted above, 
the deficit in this year cannot be said to be due to any un- 
favorable condition of the finances, of the Board of Education. 
Judged by the condition of many American cities, the relation 
between current expenditures and revenue receipts of the Board 
of Education in Grand Rapids is very satisfactory. 

Section C. The Capacity of the City to Support Schools 

Table LXIII indicates that the city of Grand Rapids is 
liberal in the measure to which it taxes itself for the support 
of schools. It is raising large amounts of money for educational 
purposes and it is still far from taking advantage of its legal 
privileges in school taxation. The question is fair, however : Is 
it raising as much money as it should for school purposes when 
measured in terms of its financial capacity to do so? 

We have no definite ideal standard by which we can answer 
the question : "How much money should a city raise for school 
purposes?" We can, however, state the degree to which a city 
conforms to or betters the common practice of the day. We can 
legitimately compare the procedure of a city in any aspect of the 
administration of its schools with other cities having approxi- 
mately the same financial status. 

The Bases upon v^^hich the Cities have been Compared. No 



374 SCHOOL SURVEY. GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

entirely satisfactory basis has as yet been worked out for the 
grouping of cities for comparative purposes. It has been agreed 
that comparison should be made only of cities of roughly the 
same size. It is a well-recognized fact, however, that cities of 
the same size vary widely in their wealth, distribution of their 
population by nationality and by occupations, prevalent wage 
scales, rapidity in growth of the number of children of school 
census age, proportion of the school population in parochial 
schools, etc. 

An ideal list with which to compare the financial situation 
in Grand Rapids could best be made up by taking account of 
all of the above factors. To do so, however, would reduce the 
size of the group to such an extent that it would be of little value 
for practical comparative purposes. In selecting the cities used 
in this report, three criteria were followed : 1, the cities must 
be roughly of the same size ; 2, they must have approximately the 
same wealth per person in the population ; 3, they must have 
roughly the same wealth per school census child. It is thus be- 
lieved that the most adequate single basis for comparing school 
finance in cities is the per capita amount of money available for 
school purposes. In computing the amount of money raised per 
school census child, since the legal school census age is 5 to 19 
years inclusive in Grand Rapids, the number of children between 
these ages has been computed for each of 19 cities from the most 
recent census returns (1913).) It was found that the applica- 
tion of any other factors of comparison would reduce the size 
of the group to a number where position in the group would 
have little practical significance. The adoption of the above 
criteria of per capita wealth per person and per school census 
child resulted in the elimination of such cities as Hartford, Con- 
necticut, and Salt Lake City, Utah, — cities of roughly the same 
size as Grand Rapids, but of 70 per cent greater capacity for 
supporting schools. The original list consisted of the 26 cities 
that in 1910 had populations ranging from 80,000 to 125,000. Of 
these cities, Dallas, Texas, reported no data to the United States 
Commissioner of Education in 1915. Spokane, Washington, and 
Omaha, Nebraska, were eliminated because their per capita 
wealth so greatly exceeded that of Grand Rapids ($1,700 and 
$2,000 per inhabitant as contrasted with $1,000 for Grand Rap- 
ids). Yonkers, New York, and Youngstown, Ohio, two cities 
that in 1915 were estimated at 96,610 and 104,489 are not included 
in the final list because only those cities were taken that had 
populations of between 80,000 and 125,000 in 1910. These two 
cities have grown so rapidly in the past five years that they are 
now more clearly in the same population class with Grand 



COST OF PUBLIC EDUCATION 375 

Rapids. Since the financial records for 1915 had to be secured 
through correspondence with the United States Bureau of Edu- 
cation, the records for these two cities were not included in the 
original tabulations made. The final list as used in this report in- 
cludes one city as large as 174,108 (Birmingham, Alabama, per 
capita wealth almost identical with that of Grand Rapids) and 
one city 96,854, Kansas City, Kansas. Practically all the re- 
maining cities cluster very closely around Grand Rd'pids in 
population (125,759) and in per capita wealth ($1,029.99). Thus, 
school finance in Grand Rapids will be discussed in this report 
through a comparison of its status with that of each of the other 
eighteen cities used in the following tables. 

1. Degree to Which Grand Rapids is Supporting Schools 

Table LXVI and Diagram LXXX compare the total ex- 
penditures of Grand Rapids for all school purposes, the expendi- 
tures per inhabitant with those of 18 other cities. A table 
which has been computed giving the estimated real property 
valuation per inhabitant shows that Grand Rapids is practically 
the average city of its group in its capacity to support schools, 
i. e., it ranks ninth in a list of nineteen cities. This point should 
be emphasized in connection with the later discussion of com- 
parative expenditures. Grand Rapids is considerably above the 
average in its per capita current expenditures, ranking third in 
expenditure per inhabitant. 

Table LXVII and Diagram LXXXI show that Grand Rap- 

TABLE LXVI 
Expenditures for all School Purposes per Inhabitant 1913*. 

Expenditures for Schools 

Per Inhabitant 

CITY * Total Amount Rank 

Albany $426,362 $4.17 9 

Birmingham 421,230 2.66 19 

Bridgeport 369,283 3.29 17 

Cambridge 560,508 5.14 4 

Dayton ..._ 506,452 4.15 11 

Des Moines 684,150 7.26 1 

Fall River 515,325 4.16 10 

GRAND RAPIDS 628,924 5.21 3 

Kansas City 386,522 4.22 8 

Lowell 437,987 3.98 13 

Lynn 386,355 ' 4.02 12 

Memphis 475,922 3.39 15 

Nashville 387,357 3.40 14 

New Bedford 475,445 4.4l 6 

Paterson 578,864 4.38 7 

Richmond 385,181 2.89 18 • 

San Antonio 366,618 3.31 16 

Scranton 621,733 4.49 5 

Springfield, Mass 689,998 7.07 2 

* Data from U. S. Bureau of Census, Bulletin No. 126, p. 22. 



376 



SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 



ids is spending more money on schools in proportion to its capa- 
city for doing- so than the average city in the group. It is in the 
upper third, ranking sixth in 19 cities in expenditure per $1,000 
of real wealth, although it ranks ninth in estimated real wealth 
per inhabitant. Furthermore, in proportion to its capacity, it is 
spending more than twice as much as the cities ranking 17th, 18th 
and 19th in the list, and practically the same amount as the 




DIAGRAM LXXX — Expenditures per inhabitant for 19 cities. 



COST OF PUBLIC EDUCATION 



^11 



cities ranking 3rd, 4th and 5th. The city is a leader in the de- 
gree to which it is taxing its capacity to support schools. 

TABLE LXVII 

Expenditures for School Purposes per $1,000.00 of Real Wealth 
Rank of 19 Cities. 1913*. 

Estimated Expenditures 

Real per $1000 
Valuation Total Expenditures of Real Wealth 

CITY Population of Propertyt for Schools Amount Rank 

Des Moines 94,238 87,887,532 684,150 7.78 1 

Scranton 138,621 101,944,538 621,733 6.10 2 

Paterson 132,236 101,993,413 578,864 5.68 3 

Fall River _... 123,982 97,935,957 515,325 ' 5.26 4 

Lowell 109,885 84,792,243 437,987 5.17 5 

GRAND RAPIDS 120,695 124,313,651 628,924 5.06 6 

Cambridge 109,045 115,947,300 560,508 4.84 7 

Lynn , 96,099 81,529,354 386,355 4.74 8 

New Bedford 107,766 101,744,559 475,445 4.67 9 

Springtield 97,654 151,960,100 689,998 4.54 10 

Kansas City 91,687 90,367,010 386,522 4.28 11 

Nashville 113,822 102,881,745 387,357 3.77 12 

Albany 102,344 115,325,264 426,362 3.71 13 

Bridgeport 112,144 105,965,619 369,283 3.49 14 

Dayton 122,079 150,005,610 506,452 3.37 15 

San Antonio 110,679 115,415,044 366,618 3.19 16 

Memphis 140,351 184,198,795 475,922 2.59 17 

Birmingham 158,200 170,239,276 421,230 2 48 18 

Richmond 133,185 198,358,386 385,181 1.94 19 

* Data from U. S. Bureau of Census, Bulletin No. 126, p. 22. 

t Computed from the stated assessed valuation and rate of assessment. 



2. How Grand Rapids Spends Its Money 

The Extent to which it Supports Schools as Compared with the 
Way in which it Supports other City Departments 

There are two ways in which may be determined the extent 
to which the city's money is going into the schools, 1, by a com- 
parison of the absolute expenditure per person for each of the 
city departments ; 2, by a comparison of the per cent of the total 
governmental cost payments that goes to each department. 
Neither basis for judgment is sufficient if taken alone; the two 
taken together provide a method of determining the status of 
the question. Table LXVIII and Diagram LXXXII present the 
absolute expenditures per inhabitant, and Table LXIX and Dia- 
gram LXXXIII the percentile expenditures. The last column 
of Table LXVIII indicates that Grand Rapids spends slightly less 
per inhabitant than the average city in the group, (although the 
absolute dift'erence is slight) for the operation of all city depart- 
ments. But of the total governmental cost payments, it devotes 
a larger percentage of its municipal income to schools than all 
but three of the 19 cities. It ranks third in the 19 in the abso- 
lute amount spent for schools. The city is devoting relatively 



378 



SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 



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DIAGRAM LXXXI — Expenditures for all school purposes per $1000 of real wealth — 

19 cities. 

little of its income to police, highways, sanitation and charities, 
but a comparatively large proportion to schools. Nearly one- 
half of its municipal income goes to the support of the public 
schools. _ Table LXX indicates the position of the city in the list 
of 19 cities, in the per cent of total governmental cost payments 
devoted to the various city departments. Thus, the city is not 
only hberal in its total expenditures per inhabitant, and its 



COST OF PUBLIC EDUCATION 



379 



TABLE LXVIII 



Expenditures per 
19 Cities 1913.* 

Gen'l 
CITIES Gov't. Police 


Inhabitant for Various 

Sani- High- 
Fire Health tation ways 


City Departments. 

Total 
Expense 
Char- for all Gen- 
ities Schools eral Depts. 


Albany 


L84 


1.99 


2.10 


0.20 


1.13 


1.38 


0.45 


4.17 


14.93 


Birmingham 


0.62 


1.01 


1.37 


0.13 


0.85 


0.96 


0.22 


2.66 


8.20 


Bridgeport 


1.23 


1.36 


1.90 


0.14 


0.99 


1.76 


0.92 


3.29 


12.46 


Cambridge 


1.13 


1.72 


1.33 


0.52 


1.93 


3.08 


0.65 


5.14 


17.31 


Dayton 


0.94 


1.25 


1.23 


0.19 


1.31 


2.29 


0.51 


4.15 


12.44 


Des Moines 


0.95 


0.95 


2.34 


0.12 


0.72 


1.51 


0.05 


7.26 


15.60 


Fall River 


0.67 


1.42 


1.40 


0.41 


0.90 


1.94 


0.98" 


4.16 


12.59 


Grand Rapids 


1.15 


1.15 


1.73 


0.37 


0.84 


0.80 


0.23 


5.21 


12.32 


Kansas City 


0.84 


0.90 


1.42 


0.09 


0.46 


0.76 


0.09 


4.22 


9.45 


Lowell 


1.03 


1.35 


1.59 


0.23 


1.06 


1.90 


0.84 


3.99 


12.96 


Lynn 


1.09 


1.17 


1.43 


0.41 


1.09 


1.87 


0.66 


4.02 


13.35 


Memphis 


0.72 


1.57 


1.49 


0.35 


1.18 


2.00 


0.55 


3.39 


12.68 


Nashville 


0.66 


1.23 


1.27 


0.24 


1.04 


1.65 


0.44 


3.40 


10.82 


New Bedford 


1.24 


1.69 


1.26 


0.52 


1.60 


2.34 


0.68 


4.41 


15.32 


Paterson 


0.65 


1.44 


1.66 


0.17 


0.77 


0.97 


0.52 


4.38 


11.35 


Richmond 


1.34 


1.49 


1.45 


0.40 


1.75 


2.97 


0.64 


2.89 


13.77 


San Antonio 


0.60 


1.22 


1.31 


0.17 


1.06 


1.70 


0.22 


3.31 


10.03 


Scranton 


0.86 


0.88 


0.94 


0.07 


1.01 


1.02 




4.49 


9.75 


Springfield 


0.88 


1.71 


2.63 


0.42 


1.44 


3.39 


0.53 


7.07 


19.94 



U. S. Bureau of Census, 1913, Bulletin No. 126, Table 2, Page 44. 



TABLE LXIX 

Per Cent of Total Governmental Cost Payments Devoted to Various 
City Departments 1913*. 



CITIES Gen'l Gov't 


Police 


Fire 


Health 


Sanitation 


High- 
ways 


Charities 


Schools 


Albany 


12.3 


13.3 


14.1 


1.4 


7.6 


9.3 


3.0 


27.9 


Birmingham 


T.e 


12.3 


16.7 


1.6 


10.4 


11.8 


2.6 


32.5 


Bridgeport 


9.9 


10.9 


15.2 


1.1 


7.9 


14.1 


7.4 


26.4 


Cambridge 


6.5 


9.9 


7.7 


3.0 


11.1 


17.8 


3.7 


29.7 


Dayton 


7.6 


10.1 


9.9 


1.5 


10.5 


18.4 


4.1 


33.4 


Des Moines 


6.1 


6.1 


15.0 


0.8 


4.6 


9.7 


0.3 


46.5 


Fall River 


5.3 


11.3 


11.1 


3.3 


7.2 


15.4 


7.8 


33.0 


Grand Rapids 


9.4 


9.4 


14.0 


3.0 


6.8 


6.5 


1.9 


42.3 


Kansas City 


8.9 


9.5 


15.0 


1.0 


4.9 


8.0 


1.0 


44.6 


Lowell 


7.9 


10.4 


12.2 


1.8 


8.2 


14.6 


6.5 


30.7 


Lynn 


82 


8.8 


10.7 


3.1 


8.2 


14.0 


4.9 


30.1 


Memphis 


5.7 


12.4 


11.7 


2.8 


9.3 


15.8 


4.3 


26.7 


Nashville 


6.1 


11.3 


11.7 


2.2 ■ 


9.6 


15.2 


4.0 


31.5 


New Bedford 


8.1 


11.0 


8.2 


3.4 


10.4 


15.3 


4.4 


28.8 


Paterson 


5.8 


12.7 


14.6 


1.5 


6.8 


8.5 


4.6 


38.6 


Richmond 


9.7 


10.8 


10.6 


2.9 


12.7 


21.6 


4.7 


21.0 


San Antonio 


5.9 


122 


13.0 


1.7 


10.6 


17.0 


2.2 


33.0 


Scranton 


8.8 


9.0 


9.6 


0.7 


10.4 


10.4 


.... 


46.0 


Springfield 


4.4 


8.6 


13.2 


2.1 


7.2 


17.0 


2.7 


35.4 



* U. S. Bitreau of- Census 1913, Bulletin No. 126, Table 2. 



380 



SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 




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COST OF PUBLIC EDUCATION 



381 




DIAGRAM LXXXII— Per cent of tot&l cost payments to schools— 19 cities. 



382 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 









TABLE 


LXX 










Rank in Per Cent of Total Governmental Cost Payments Dev 


oted to 


Various City Departments 


1913. 










High- 
ways Cha 






CITIES G 


en'l Gov't 


Police 


Fire 


Health 


Sanitation 


irities 


Schools 


Albany 


1 


1 


6 




15 


13 




16 


12 


16 


Birmingham 


10 or 11 


4 


1 




12 


6 




13 


14 


10 


Bridgeport 


2 


9 


2 




16 


12 




11 


2 


18 


Cambridge 


12 


13 


19 


4 


or 5 


2 




3 


11 


14 


T-av'on 


in or 11 


12 


16 


13 


or 14 


4 




2 


9 


7 


Des Moines 


13 or 14 


19 


3 or 4 




18 


19 




15 


18 


1 


T^'^ll Ui-f^i- 


18 


6 or 7 


13 




2 


14 or 


15 


7 


1 


8 or 9 


Grand Rapids 


4 


15 


7 


4 


or 5 


16 or 


17 


19 


16 


4 


Kansas d>,y 


5 


14 


3 or 4 




17 


18 




18 


17 


3 


Lowell 


9 


11 


10 




10 


10 or 


11 


10 


3 


12 


Lynn 


7 


17 


14 




3 


10 or 


11 


12 


4 


13 


Mempiiis 


17 


3 


11 or 12 




7 


9 




6 


8 


17 


Nashville 


13 or 14 


6 or 7 


11 or 12 




8 


8 




9 


10 


11 


New Bedford 


8 


8 


18 




1 


6 




8 


7 


15 


Paterson 


16 


2 


5 


13 


or 14 


16 or 


17 


17 


6 


5 


Richmond 


3 


10 


15 




6 


1 




1 


5 


19 


San Antonio 


15 


5 


9 




11 


3 




4 or 5 


15 


8 or 9 


Scranton 


6 


16 


17 




19 


6 




14 


19 


2 


Springfield 


19 


18 


8 




9 


14 or 


15 


4 or 5 


13 


6 



expenditures expressed in terms of its capacity to support schools, 
but it is devoting a proportionally large part of its municipal 
expenditures to the public schools. 

3. How the Board of Education Spends its Money 

(a) The Distribution of School Moneys Between Current 
Expense and Permanent Improvements. The principal division 
of school expenditures is that between current expense and out- 
lay for permanent improvements. Table LXXI and Diagram 
LXXXIV show the growth and distribution of the Board's ex- 
penditures. In fourteen years the Board's total expenditures 
have increased nearly 300 per cent. In fact, in ten years they 
have tripled. From 1902-1905 it spent annually approximately 
$400,000. In 1914-1915 it spent over $1,000,000 and $1,400,000 
respectively. During the same time, the average number of 
pupils belonging to the school system increased only 1990 or 14.2 
per cent. An analysis of the total expenditures reveals where 
the largest portions of the expenditures went, namely' into per- 
manent improvements. The analysis to be made later will show 
that for years previous to 1905 and 1906, relatively little was 
done in adding to the permanent plant of the Grand Rapids 
school system. From 1893 to 1905 only three new grammar 
school buildings were built (at a cost of $130,000) and no high 
schools. In the same time four four-room additions were made 
to elementary schools. It was a period of relatively little atten- 
tion to the development of the school plant. 

With the reorganization of the Board of Education in 1905 
(a Board of nine members elected at large, replacing a political 
Board of twenty-four "'ward" members) there came a change in 



COST OF PUBLIC EDUCATION 383 

TABLE LXXI 

Amount spent for all Current Expenditures and for Permanent Im- 
provements during years 1902-1915 inclusive.* 

Total Spent Total Ex- Average No. 

Total for Permanent penditure for All Pupils Belong- 

YEAR Current Expenses Improvements School Purposes ing to Schools 

1902 - $349,885.09 $35,801.68 $ 385,686.77 13,321 

1903 - 393,984.85 35,347.18 429,332.03 13,126 

1904 416,289.46 17,236.83 433,526.29 12,992 

1905 409,785.89 24,700.00 434,485.89 12,902 

1906 458,055.73 89,222.86 547,278.59 13,047 

1907 435,570.26 88,603.60 524,173.86 13,139 

1908 514,784.37 119,804.43 634,588.80 13,374 

1909 550,128.16 250,210.53 800,338.69 13,493 

1910 561,457.05 404,466.14 965,923.19 13,580 

1911 575,478.78 245,751.97 821,230.75 13,771 

1912 662,940.28 157,159.14 820,099.42 14,112 

1913 769,440.11 89,880.59 859,320.70 14,730 

1914 791,239.91 249,594.73 1,040,834.64 14,865 

1915 884,008.22 545,771.48 1,429,779.70 15,311 

* Data from Annual Reports of the Board of Education. 

the manner of handling school business. A new educational and 
business organization was installed, and a systematic study un- 
dertaken of the needs of the school plant. During 1907 and 1908 
several necessary four-room additions were made to grammar 
schools, and a plan for high-school development worked out. It 
was quite clear that a complete overhauling of the physical 
equipment of the plant was necessary. This resulted in an ex- 
penditure of over $400,000 for new buildings, $302,000 of this 
being for the Central and Union High Schools, the remainder 
for new elementary schools. Careful reading of the reports of 
committees, of the business manager and of the proceedings of 
the Board, leads to the conclusion that the Board of Education, 
through its business department, has administered the develop- 
ment of the school plant in a far-sighted manner. Careful stud- 
ies made of particular buildings and of the life of school build- 
ings in the city of Grand Rapids in general, culminated in a 
definite building policy of the Board in 1912 and 1913. In that 
year a scheme of five-year development of the school plant was 
planned, and $1,011,000 in bonds were voted by the Board of 
Education. This policy of replacement and extension was hamp- 
ered by an adverse vote of the people on referendum in 1913. 
Notwithstanding this, the Common Council approved bonds to 
the amount of $557,000 in 1913, from which the South High 
School and new elementary schools were built in the past two 
years. The delay in approval of the bond issue, however, ac- 
counts for the low point in the building curve in the above 
diagram. The upward trend of the permanent improvements 
curve in 1914 and 1915 is explained by the completion of the 
high schools and of several new elementary schools. (A more 



384 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 



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DIAGRAM LXX XIV— Amount spent for 

190 



current expenses and permanent improvements 
2-1915. 



COST OF PUBLIC EDUCATION 385 

detailed analysis of the bonding policy of the Board of Educa- 
tion will be discussed later in this report.) 

Thus, careful analysis of the financial aspects of the building 
situation in the city shows that the great increase in the absolute 
and relative amount of money spent for permanent improvements 
is but a natural outcome of a long period of neglect of the school 
plant. The city should face squarely the problem of supporting 
the Board of Education in its present attempt to bring the ele- 
mentary schools of the city up to a high standard. The high- 
school situation has been very much improved within the last 
three years. It seems clear that more attention should now be 
given to the development of the elementary-school plant. (The 
question of how best to raise money for building purposes and 
the efficiency of the architectural and construction department 
of the business organization are discussed later in the report.) 

In the same interval from 1902 to 1915, the total current 
expense of the Board has increased fairly regularly from year 
to year. A comparison has been made of the growth in the 
average number of pupils in the fourteen years 1902 to 1915 
inclusive, with the increase in current annual expenditure. Dur- 
ing the time that there has been but relatively little increase 
in the number of pupils in the public schools (as shown by the 
Annual Reports of the Board of Education) there has been a 
remarkable increase in current expenditures. Table LXXII and 
Diagram LXXXV analyze the larger items making up the total 
current expenditures. Roughly 70 per cent of a city's school 
expenditures go into the salaries of teachers. The increase in 
current expenditures is shown by Table LXXII to be found very 
largely in this item: the city spent nearly $300,000 more in 1915 
for teachers' salaries than it did in 1905. In the same interval 
the number of teachers in the system increased from 422 to 611, 

TABLE LXXII 

Total Expenditures for Salaries of Teachers, Janitors, and Adminis- 
tration, and Average Salary Paid Per Teacher. For 1905 to 1915 in- 
clusive.* 

SALARIES PAID Average 

No. of Admin- Salary Paid 

YEAR Teachers Teachers Janitors istration Per Teacher 

1905- 422 $285,476 $30,074 $11,914 $676 

1906 425 293,824 29,687 10,390 691 

1907 452 323,185 33,073 11,490 715 

1908 483 376,981 32,563 11,874 780 

1909 482 394,822 33,215 12,263 819 

1910 _ 488 402,355 32,768 12,871 824 

1911 505 413,263 40,407 13,884 818 

1912 - 540 450,884 46,031 14,325 835 

1913 .- - 558 483,961 45,963 15,417 867 

1914 593 516,832 46,712 16,523 871 

1915 611 548,795 49,459 18,510 898 

* Data from Annual Reports of Board of Education. 



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DIAGRAM LXXXV — Increase in number of teachers and in average salary paid to 

teachers, 1905-1915. 



COST OF PUBLIC EDUCATION- 387 

an increase of about 30 per cent. This has meant a constantly 
decreasing- size of class. At the same time, the Board has con- 
sistently raised teachers' salaries. In 1905 it spent for this pur- 
pose $676 per teacher: in 1915, $898 per teacher. (A detailed 
discussion of salary schedules will be given later in this report.) 
While the total amount spent for teachers' salaries has practi- 
cally doubled in ten years, janitorial expense and administrative 
salaries have increased about two-thirds. In the meantime, 
building and ground maintenance has nearly doubled, $23,365 to 
$51,656; fuel expense has more than tripled, $8,607 to $25,444; 
the interest on bonds, $12,451 to $36,398, supplies, $11,530 to 
$33,752 have each tripled. 

This study of the classification of total disbursements leads 
to the conclusion that the city of Grand Rapids, through its 
Board of Education and Common Council has been very liberal 
in its support of schools. Not only has it entered upon a definite 
policy of developing the school plant, but it is also assuming an 
attitude of being willing to pay more for each aspect of educa- 
tional service. 

(b) The Relative Extent to which Grand Rapids Supports 
Different Kinds of Educational Service 

1. How does Grand Rapids Distribute Its Current Expenditures? 

Granted that the Board of Education has entered upon a 
policy of development aimed at correcting the condition brought 
on previous to the reorganization in 1905, is it developing all 
phases of educational work, or is it emphasizing one at the ex- 
pense of others? 

The business manager, appointed by the Board in 1906, in 
designing a system of fund accounting, classified accounts as 1, 
educational (fund numbers 1-9 inclusive) ; 2, business (funds 
numbers 10 and above). The business department at the same 
time was created a co-ordinate department of the general sys- 
tem. The business manager reported to the Board directly, not 
to the Superintendent of Schools. It is pertinent to the pur- 
pose of this inquiry to study the expenditures of the Board when 
classified in accordance with this larger basis of division em- 
ployed since its establishment in the busines manager's office. 

a. Educational vs. Business Expenditures of the Board. 
Tables LXXIII and LXXIV show the status of the two divi- 
sions. Table LXXIII shows the amounts spent for all educa- 
tional purposes, and for all business purposes during the past 
five years, and the per cent of the total current expenditures de- 



388 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

voted to each. The following items are included under the above 
named purposes : 

Educational purposes (salaries and expense). 

1. Salaries and expenses of teachers, principals, and their 
clerks ; of supervisors and their clerks ; 

2. School supplies, school books, manual training supplies 
and equipment; 

3. Instructional expense for special schools; 

4. Other miscellaneous instructional expense. 

Business purposes — salaries and expense of the business 
department. 

1. Expenses of the Board of Education; 

2. Maintenance of buildings and grounds; 

3. Salaries and supplies for janitors; 

4. Fuel, light, pov^er and v^^ater ; 

5. Miscellaneous business expense. 

TABLE LXXIII 

Distribution of Educational and Business Expenditures of the Board 
of Education, 1911-1915 inclusive.* 

Per Cent 
of Total Devoted ,to 
Educational Business Total Current Educational Business 

YEAR Expenditure Expenditure Expenditure Purposes Purposes 

1911 $452,152.07 $ 96,021.77 $548,173.84 82.48 17.52 

1912 498,426.71 136,260.91 634,687.62 78.51 21.49 

1913 532,508.36 130,897.11 663,405.47 80.27 19.72 

1914 563,206.65 118,442.37 681,649.02 82.62 17.37 

1915 602,944.20 153,253.26 756,197.46 79.75 20.25 

* Data compiled from the Annual Reports of the Board of Education. 

The table shows a certain consistency in the policy of the 
Board in its distribution of expense betv^een these tw^o larger 
types of activities. Approximately four-fifths of the Board's 
money has gone to educational purposes, tv^o-fifths to business 
purposes. Is this proportion rightly balanced? Is the business 
department receiving more or less than it should? Has the Board 
of Education, in establishing a policy of physical development, 
and in reorganizing the business end of school administration, 
emphasized unduly the activities of the business department at 
the expense of the educational department? 

The best method available for ansv^ering these questions is 
to compare vv^hat the city is doing v^dth the record of other cities 
in its class. Table LXXIV does this by giving the absolute 
amount spent per pupil in average daily attendance for these 
tw^o purposes, together w^ith the per cent of the total devoted to 
each. It should be noted that a city's expenditures for any 
school purpose should be analyzed in this tv^o-fold w^ay, 1. by 
determining its absolute per capita expenditures ; 2. by comput- 



COST OF PUBLIC EDUCATION 



389 



ing the per cent of its expenditures devoted to the particular 
phase of school administration in question. Both methods must 
be used to give an adequate comprehension of the situation. 
Table LXXIV shows that Grand Rapids is spending more money 



Total and Per Capita 
Purposes,* 



Total Expenditure for ; 



CITY 
Albany 
Birmingham 
Bridgeport 
Cambridge 
Dayton 
Des Moines 
Fall River 



Educational 
Purposes 
387,781 
453,073 
400,184 
539,066 
466,131 
624,827 
497,634 



TABLE LXXIV 

Expenditures for Educational and Business 

Rank in Ex- 
Expenditure Per penditure Per Pupil 
Pupil in Average Average Daily 

Daily Attendance for : Attendance for : 
Educa- " Educa- 

tional Business 
Purposes Purposes 



GRAND RAPIDS 598,771 



Kansas City 

Lowell 

Lynn 

Memphis 

Nashville 

New Bedford 

Paterson 

Richmond 

San Antonio 

Scranton 



382,624 
322,425 
340,413 
463,011 
374,181 
399,308 
519,833 
512,294 
393,060 
526,037 



Springfield, Mass. 706,367 

* Data from Annual Report, 



Business 

Purposes 

92,120 

71,721 

90,950 

93,559 

130,140 

144,396 

122,344 

153,986 

132,103 

87,131 

85,115 

81,728 

59,034 

81,712 

88,366 

83,624 

85,814 

156,591 

165,480 



tional 
Purposes 
35.85 
23.01 
24.95 
37.11 
29.86 
40.20 
35.05 
40.65 
30.57 
29.14 
27.61 
29.95 
24.22 
32.12 
26.95 
23.17 
34.46 
26.63 
45.42 



Business 
Purposes 
8.51 
3.64 
5.67 
6.44 
8.34 
9.29 
8.61 
10.45 
10.55 
7.60 
6.91 
5.29 
3.82 
6.59 
4.58 
3.78 
7.52 
7.93 
10.64 



United States Bureau of Education, 1915, Vol. II. 



for educational purposes on each child in average daily attendance 
than all but one of the 18 other cities in the list. Springfield, 
Massachusetts exceeds it in per capita expenditures by nearly 
$5.00, but it should be remembered that Springfield has a capa- 
city for supporting schools that is considerably greater. At the 
same time, Grand Rapids ranks third in 19 cities in its per capita 
expenditures for business purposes. This part of the table shoves, 
then, that Grand Rapids is not only liberal in its expenditures for 
schools, but that it is comparatively liberal in its expenditures 
for all phases of school work. It does not, however, reveal the 
exact way in which the Board is dividing its financial interests. 
Table LXXV and Diagram LXXXVI also show that whereas 
Grand Rapids ranks fifth in 19 cities in the per cent of its current 
expenditures that it devotes to business purposes, it ranks fif- 
teenth in the per cent devoted to educational purposes. Where it 
is spending 20.46 per cent of its school money for business pur- 
poses, Kansas City is giving 25.66 per cent, and Nashville is de- 
voting only 13.63 per cent. These diflferences, although small ab- 
solutely, are large relatively. It is true that we have no adequate 
basis for determining what is the best percental distribution of 
school money. According to common practice among American 



390 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 




DIAGRAM LXXXVI — Per cent of current expenditures for educational and 
bvisiness purposes. 



COST OF PUBLIC EDUCATION 391 

cities, Grand Rapids is spending slightly more on its business 
department than most other cities. However, the above analysis 
of the position of Grand Rapids in the group of cities of its class 
in the per capita expenditure for both educational and business 
purposes will at least temper the conclusion that Grand Rapids 
ought to spend a larger proportion of its income on the education- 
al phases of its school work. 

TABLE LXXV 



and Business Purposes. 

Educational 

CITY Purposes 

Albany 80.81 

Birmingham 86.35 

Bridgeport 81.41 

Cambridge 85.21 

Dayton 78.17 

Des Moines 81.23 

Fall River , 80.27 

GRAND RAPIDS 79.54 

Kansas City 74.34 

Lowell - 78.77 

Lynn 80.00 

Memphis 85.00 

Nashville 86.37 

New Bedford 83.02 

Paterson 85.47 

Richmond 85.97 

San Antonio 82.08 

Scranton 77.06 ^ 

Springfield 81.02 

The distribution of total expenditures alone, however, does 
not solve the problem entirely. It has been recognized for some 
time that the Board of Education has been forced to pay a large 
amount of attention to the physical and business aspects of the 
schools. The necessity of this was noted above in commenting 
upon the way in which the Board distributes its money between 
current expense and capital outlay. A careful reading of the 
proceedings and Annual Reports of the Board of Education, sup- 
plemented by interviews with members of the Board and the busi- 
ness and educational departments, leads to the belief that there 
has been a tendency in Grand Rapids to emphasize the business 
aspects of school development. A comparison of the salaries paid 
for business administration and for educational administration 
1910-1911 and 1915-1916 inclusive shows the following totals:** 

** From data supplied by Business Manager's office. 



penditures devoted to 


Educational 


Bvisiness 
Purposes 


Rank of Per Cent of 
Total Expenditures Devoted to : 
Educational Business 
Purposes Purposes 


19.19 


12 


8 


13.64 


2 


18 


18.59 


9 


11 


14.79 


5 


15 


21.83 


17 


3 


18.77 


10 


10 


19.73 


13 


7 


20.46 


15 


5 


25.66 


19 


1 


21.22 


16 


4 


20.00 


14 


6 


15.00 


6 


14 


13.63 


1 


19 


16.98 


7 


13 


14.53 


4 


16 


14.03 


3 


17 


17.92 


8 


12 


22.94 


18 


2 


18.98 


11 


9 



392 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

Business Educational 

Administration* Administrationf 

1910-11 : 11,888 8,284 

1911-12 : 11,521 8,692 

1912-13 12,364 9,597 

1913-14 12,944 10,477 

1914-15 14,885 12,090 

1915-16 17,548 13,321 

* Includes salaries of the business manager and clerks in his office ; superintendent 

of buildings, school architect, the director of the census and his clerks ; the supply 
clerk and assistants. 

t Includes salaries of superintendent, assistant superintendent, office assistants, 
truant officers, head of attendance department and assistants. 

A consideration of the above analysis of administrative ex- 
pense emphasizes the belief that the administrative phases of a 
business nature have been the more completely developed. Due 
to the undeveloped condition of this branch of the administration 
in earlier days, it must be said that most of the addition to the 
business staff has been quite necessary. A real supply depart- 
ment has recently been established that is handling its work in a 
very creditable manner. The repair and janitorial departments 
have been combined under one administrative officer, a superin- 
tendent of buildings and grounds. This step was in line with the 
properly increasing centralization and co-ordination of school 
administration. The Board has, within a few years, established 
a department of school architecture to put the designing and 
construction of its new buildings on a purely professional basis\ 
It can be shown that the expense in this connection is clearly 
justifiable. A recent innovation is the creating of a permanent 
bureau of census and statistics. Through a misconception of the 
proper function of such a department, it is being administered 
by the business manager, and is included in the above table with 
the business expense. The type of work done to date has been 
such as to contribute very largely to the business outcomes and 
not to the furtherance of specific phases of purely educational 
practice. A proposed reorganization of this department is dis- 
cussed later. 

Careful consideration of all phases of the distribution of the 
Board's expenditures leads to the conclusion that while it has 
emphasized somewhat unduly the business aspects of the schools, 
it has been justified in doing so by the undeveloped state of the 
organization ten years ago. At the same time, it must be stressed 
that the city is a leader in its liberality in each of the larger 
phases of school expenditure. 

2. The Board's Expenditures Classified in Terms of Service 

Rendered 
a. The Larger Aspects. Tables LXXVI and LXXVII ana- 
lyze still more in detail the distribution of the Board's current 
expenditures, excluding outlay. They do so in terms of education- 



COST OF PUBLIC EDUCATION 



393 



al service rendered of the following specific types: 1. Adminis- 
tration; 2. Supervision and Instruction; 3. Operation of the 
Plant; 4. Maintenance of the plant. Tables LXXVI and 
LXXVII show for 19 cities the total expenditures for each of 
these types of service, and the per cent of the total current expen- 
ditures devoted to each item, with the rank of the cities in the 
per cent devoted to each. The table shows that Grand Rapids 
is in the top third of the cities in the proportion of its expendi- 
tures for administration and maintenance of the plant, and con- 
siderably below the average in the proportion of .its expenditures 
devoted i;o supervision and instruction and operation of the plant. 
This is largely accounted for in the case of the first item by the 
above discussion. That the city has been devoting such a large 
proportion of its income to maintenance is to be expected in view 
of the condition of the school plant. With the constantly increas- 
ing replacement of old buildings, the unusual percentage of cur- 
rent income devoted to this item should be reduced. It must be 



TABLE LXXVI 



Distribution of Total 
Educational Service, 1915.* 



CITY Administration 

Albany 14,107 

Birmingham 14.021 

Bridgeport -- 11,252 

Cambridge 25,733 

Dayton 17,018 

Des Moines 18,921 

Fall River 19,255 

GRAND RAPIDS 29,970 

Kansas City 35,623 

Lowell 12,342 

Lynn 20,728 

Memphis .- 22,623 

Nashville 16,931 

New Bedford 17,664 

Paterson 15,586 

Richmond 14,796 

San Antonio 17,564 

Scranton 32,741 

Springfield 29,923 

* Data from 1915 Report of 



^urrent Jbxi 


jenditures 


tor various 


kinds of 


Supervision 








and 


Operation 


Maintenance 




Instruction 


of Plant 


of Plant 


TOTAL 


381,366 


69,050 


15,378 


479,901 


444,076 


56,544 


10,153 


524,794 


395,022 


69,775 


15,185 


491,234 


522,150 


77,901 


6,452 


632,236 


457,689 


60,699 


60,805 


596,211 


612.557 


111,512 


23,432 


766,422 


483,393 


84,560 


31,803 


619,011 


582,221 


87,536 


50,162 


749,889 


373,341 


63,611 


41,107 


513,682 


314,711 


78,803 


3,484 


409,340 


230,439 


58,289 


15,322 


324,778 


452,796 


52,402 


16,918 


544,739 


366,246 


34,977 


15,061 


433,215 


384,805 


68,720 


8,776 


479,965 


516,153 


63,996 


12,464 


608,199 


506,454 


53,593 


21,435 


596,283 


388.290 


40,385 


32,635 


478,874 


516,994 


88,447 


44,446 


682,628 


681,762 


113,634 


45,717 


871,036 


he U. S. Commissioner of 


Education, Vol. 


II. 



noted also that the business department has recently adopted the 
policy of building equipment and furniture, and it is probable that 
a fairly large portion of the 1915 maintenance is due to the in- 
clusion of all expenses of the shop force whether engaged on re- 
pairs or on the building of equipment. 

Tables LXXVIII and LXXIX show that in actual per capita 
expenditure. Grand Rapids is a leader in the degree to which it 
is supporting each specific phase of school work. In administra- 
tion, supervision and instruction, and in total current expendi- 



394 



SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 







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COST OF PUBLIC EDUCATION 



395 



ture, it is spending more on each pupil in average daily attend- 
ance than all but one of the 19 cities in the list. Springfield, 
Mass., again ranks first. In operation and maintenance Grand 
Rapids is in the top third of the cities, ranking sixth and second 
respectively. 

To w^hat degree is Grand Rapids spending money on its 
school buildings and other permanent equipment in comparison 
with the cities of its class? Table LXXX and Diagram 



TABLE LXXVIII 



Current Expenditures per pupil 
19 cities, 1915.* 



Average 
Daily 
CITY Attendance 

Albany 10,816 

Birmingham 19,694 

Bridgeport 16,034 

Cambridge 14,524 

Dayton 15,608 

Des Moines 15,543 

Fall River 14,197 

GRAND RAPIDS 14,730 

Kansas City 12,515 

Lowell 11,065 

Lynn 12,329 

Memphis 15,462 

Nashville 15,449 

New Bedford 12,431 

P.aterson 19,284 

Richmond 22,102 

San Antonio 11,406 

Scranton 19,755 

Springfield ". 15,552 

* Data from Annual Report of 



in Average Daily Attendance. 





Supervision 








and 








Adminis 


- Instruc- 




Main- 




tration 


tion 


Operation 


tenance 


TOTAL 


. 1.30 


35.26 


6.39 


1.41 


44.36 


.72 


22.65 


2.88 


.52 


26.77 


.70 


24.63 


4.36 


.95 


30.64 


1.77 


35.92 


5.37 


.45 


43.51 


1.09 


29.32 


3.89 


3.90 


38.20 


1.22 


39.45 


7.19 


1.50 


49.36 


1.36 


34.04 


5.99 


2. '2 4 


43.63 


2.03 


39.52 


5.94 


3.41 


50.90 


2.85 


29.83 


5.08 


3.29 


41.05 


1.11 


28.44 


7.15 


.31 


37.01 


1.68 


18.69 


4.73 


1.25 


26.35 


1.46 


29.28 


3.40 


1.09 


35.23 


1.09 


23.70 


2.27 


.98 


28.04 


1.41 


30.96 


5.54 


.70 


38.61 


.81 


26.76 


3.33 


.65 


31.55 


.67 


22.91 


2.42 


.97 


26.97 


1.54 


34.04 


3.54 


2.86 


41.98 


1.67 


26.17 


4.48 


2.25 


34.57 


1.92 


43.82 


7.33 


2.95 


56.02 


e U. S. 


Commissioner of Education, 1915, 


Vol. IL 



TABLE LXXIX 

Rank of 19 Cities in Current Expenditures per pupil in Average 
Daily Attendance, 1915.* 

Supervision 

Adminis- and Main- 

CITIES tration. Instruction Operation. tenance. Total. 

Albany 11 5 4 9 4 

Birmingham 17 18 17 17 18 

Bridgeport 18 15 12 14 15 

Cambridge 4 4 8 18 ' 6 

Dayton 14 or 15 10 13 1 10 

Des Moines 12 3 2 8 3 

Fall River 10 6 or 7 5 7 5 

GRAND RAPIDS 2 2 6 2 2 

Kansas City f '. 19 9 3 8 

Lowell 13 12 3 19 11 

Lynn : 5 19 10 10 19 

Memphis 8 11 15 11 12 

Nashville 14 or 15 16 19 12 16 

New Bedford 9 8 7 15 9 

Paterson 16 13 16 16 14 

Richmond 19 17 18 13 17 

San Antonio 7 6 or 7 14 5 7 

Scranton 6 14 11 6 13 

Springfield 3 11 4 1 

* Data from Annual Report of the U. S. Commissioner of Education, 1915, Vol. II. 



396 



SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 




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DIAGRAM LXXXVII — Expenditures per pupil in average daily attendance, 
capital outlay (Average of years 1910-11 to 1914-15). 



for 



COST OF PUBLIC EDUCATION 



Z97 



TABLE LXXX 

Average Expenditures for Capital Outlay 1910-11 to 1914-15 in- 
clusive. Total amount spent and amount spent per pupil in average 
daily attendance. 16 Cities.* 

Expenditure Per Pupil in 
Average Daily Attendance: 

Average Outlays Average 

CITIES 1911-1915 Daily Attendance Amount Spent Rank 

Springfield 257,767.00 13,835 18.63 1 

GRAND RAPIDS .... 191,821.40 14,375 13.34 2 

Lynn 130,589.60 10,934 11.85 3 

Richmond 178,415.60 16,788 10.62J: 4 

Bridgeport 158,784.00 15,142 10.48T b 

Des Moines 126,630.20 14,596 8.67 6 

Memphis 110,541.60 13,330 .8.29 7 

Paterson 144,545.80 17,839 8.10 8 

New Bedford 89,558.20 11,478 7.80 9 

Fall River 104,544.00 13,474 7.78 10 

San Antonio 78,649.20 10,388 7.57 11 

Nashville 97,035.00 14,121 6.87 12 

Birmingham 77,639.40 17,691 4.39 13 

Kansas City 46,471.00 11,921 3.89 14 

Dayton 52,837.40 14,022 3.77 15 

Cambridge .- 17,559.40 14,303 1.23 16 

* Data from Annual Reports of the United States Commissioner of Education. 

t Average Daily Attendance for 3 years. 

% Average Daily Attendance for 4 years. 

LXXXVII show for 16 cities the average expenditure for cap- 
ital outlay during the five years 1910-11 to 1914-15 inclusive (both 
the total and average amount spent per pupil in average daily 
attendance). That the amount of money that a city spends for 
its school plant is an unstable item of expenditure is well shown 
by Table LXIII and Diagram LXXVI. It was decided that to 
average such expenditures during a course of say, five years, 
would smooth out any irregularities, and result in comparable 
figures. The table shows clearly that Grand Rapids, in terms 
of its capacity to do so, is spending more money per pupil in aver- 
age daily attendance for permanent improvements than all but 
one of the cities in its class. The discussion that has been given 
of the recent attention to the physical plant may be thought to 
account for this high position. Averaging the expenditures for 
capital outlay, however, for the five years 1906-1910 inclusive, 
gives an average expenditure of roughly $190,000 — almost iden- 
tical with that of the last five years, and an even higher per pupil 
expenditure. During the past ten years, therefore, the city clear- 
ly ranks at the head of the list.. If the table had been prepared 
ten years ago, however, as an average expenditure for new plant 
for the years 1901-1905 inclusive, the average expenditure for all 
permanent improvements would have been less than $25,000 a 
year, giving a per pupil cost of about $2.00 a year, with a conse- 
quent ranking near the foot of the list of cities. 

b. Classification of Expenditures in Terms of Specific Types 
of Service Rendered. Tables LXXXI and LXXXII compare the 
Board's expenditures per pupil in average daily attendance for 



398 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

various specific types of service rendered with those of 18 other 
cities. In all but one small item, that for salaries of supervisors, 
Grand Rapids ranks in the highest third of the 19 cities. In the 
amount spent per pupil in average daily attendance for salaries 
of teachers, it is exceeded only by Springfield. In the manner in 
which it provides educational supplies it must be regarded as un- 
usually liberal. (The efficiency with which it administers these 
expenditures is another matter to be taken up in a later section.) 
In its expenditures for wages of janitors, for fuel, and for main- 
tenance of the plant, it leads the other cities, ranking always in 
the upper third. 

Tables LXXXI and LXXXII show that Grand Rapids ranks 
relatively low in the amount that it pays for salaries of super- 
visors, occupying the 11th or 12th place in the list of 19 cities. 
Attention should be called to the fact however that, expressed in 
absolute amount spent per pupil, the cities that rank 6th to 12th 
inclusive vary in their per capita expenditure by only 15 cents. 
It is possible to study the problem further by asking how many 
supervisors are employed per 1,000 pupils in the different cities. 
Obtaining the number of supervisors and the average daily at- 
tendance from Table 10 of the 1915 report of the United States 
Commissioner of Education, we find that Grand Rapids ranks 
third in the 19 cities, as shown by Table LXXXIII. 

Since the city of Grand Rapids is spending less per child in 
average daily attendance and yet is supplying more supervisors 
per 1,000 pupils it must be paying a smaller salary. The 1913 
report of the United States Bureau of Education gives data 
showing that the average expenditure per supervisor for salaries 
and expenses of supervisors in 1912-13 was $937.00. 

Adequate data are not available to give a precise compari- 
son by grades of schools and by special subjects, of the cost bi 
supervision. The best compilation of data on this subject is 
found In Bulletin No. 16, 1914, of the United States Bureau of 
Education, "Tangible Rewards of Teaching." Table 2 gives 
data on the average salary paid to various kinds of supervisors In 
1912-13. Unfortunately it reports comparative data for only four 
cities, those on scattered types of supervisory work. They do 
not include Grand Rapids. The only remaining method of arriv- 
ing at a comparison is to compare the average salary paid In 
Grand Rapids with the average paid in cities of the population 
class 50,000 to 100,000 or 100,000 to 250,000. It will be at least 
fair to Grand Rapids to compare the average salary paid to 
supervisors with that paid in cities of the former class. The list 
is given in Table LXXXIV. 

One fact is clear: Grand Rapids pays a much lower salary 



COST OF PUBLIC EDUCATION 



399 



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TABLE LXXXIII 

Rank of 19 Cities in Number of Supervisors per 1,000 Pupils in 
Average Daily Attendance. 

CITY Number of Supervisors Rank 

New Bedford 11 1 

Springfield 12 2 

GRAND RAPIDS 10 3 

Lowell 8 4 

Bridgeport 13 5 

Dayton 11 6 

Paterson 13 . 7 

Nashville 9 8 

Scranton 11 9 

San Antonio 6 10 

Birmingham 10 11 

Des Moines 7 12 

Fall River 6 13 or 14 

Memphis 7 13 or 14 

Albany 4 15 

Lynn 4 16 

Kansas City 3 17 

Richmond 4 18 

Cambridge — 2 19 



TABLE LXXXIV 

Minirnum, Maximum and Average Salary Paid to Supervisors in 
Cities of '50,000 to 100,000. 

Type of Supervision Minimum Salary Maximum Salary Average Salary 
Supervisor of: 

Intermediate Schools $800 $1600 $1045 

Primary Schools 700 1800 1213 

Kindergartens 700 1450 1130 

Drawing 675 2000 1216 

Music 600 2250 1280 

Physical Training - 900 2000 1354 

Manual Training 550 2400 1509 

Sewing 760 1400 1020 

Cooking 625 1620 1159 

Penmanship 900 1600 1214 

Foreign Languages 990 1500 1245 

Miscellaneous 900 2250 1567 

(The salaries paid to supervisors in the next larger population class, 100,000 to 
250,000, are much higher than the above salaries.) 



to supervisors than the average in the cities of the population 
class 50,000 to 100,000. Analysis of the 1915-1916 payroll shows 
that the average salary paid to art supervisors is slightly lower 
than the average paid to art supervisors in 1912-13 in above 
group ; that for music is slightly higher ; that for physical edu- 
cation is considerably lower; the remainder of the salaries paid 
to supervisors average much below (1915-16) those paid on the 
average in other cities of the above class. 

Even though specifically analyzed data, comparable at every 
step, are not available to answer the above questions, we are at 
least enabled to say that Grand Rapids is not paying as much for 
supervisors as are other cities of its class. 

The discussion points to another outstanding fact which will 



402 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

be elaborated in Chapter XV: the accounting methods of the 
business department are not planned so as to result in specific 
cost statements measured in terms of educational service rend- 
ered. 

Using the criterion of prevalent practice as the standard, this 
analysis of the expenditures of the Board of Education leads to 
the conclusion that, w^ith the exception of the supervisory phase, 
the Board in disbursing the city's school money has taken the 
position that all phases of school administration shall be thor- 
oughly supported ; that there is some evidence that the Board has 
been giving somewhat disproportionate emphasis to the develop- 
ment of the business side of the schools ; that the Board has been 
endowing all other phases of the school work more liberally than 
most other cities of its class. 

(c) The Relative Extent to Which Grand Rapids Supports 
Different Kinds of Schools 

There are two principal Avays to study the efficiency of a 
school system's financial administration. The first is to discover 
to what extent it supports different kinds of educational service, 
e. g. (1) classifying service as educational or business : (2) classi- 
fying service as administration, supervision and instruction, 
operation, and maintenance; (3) classifying service in terms of 
specific types of educational work, such as teachers' salaries, 
janitors' salaries, cost of fuel, etc. The second method is to dis- 
cover to what relative extent the city is supporting different 
kinds of schools. We have found that, as judged by prevalent 
standards in cities of its class Grand Rapids spends a large 
amount of money on its school. It distributes this money fairly 
uniformly throughout different "service-departments" of school 
administration. No one of the more important branches can be 
said to be really neglected. 

The question therefore arises : "How is it endowing differ- 
ent types of schools? Is this large expenditure of school money 
going in undue proportion to elementary or to secondary schools? 
How do the per capita expenditures for these two types of 
schools compare with those of other cities?" 

The data of Table LXXXV and Diagram LXXXVIII and 
Tables LXXXVI and LXXXVII answer these questions. Table 
LXXXV shows the total current expenditure, the expenditure 
per pupil in average daily attendance and the rank of each of 17 
cities in expenditure per pupil, for both elementary and second- 
ary education. The interpretation of the table is clear: Grand 
Rapids is spending more per pupil in average daily attendance 



COST OF PUBLIC EDUCATION 



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404 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 



DIAGRAM LXXXVIII-Expenditures per pupil in average daily attendance for 
elementary and secondary education. 



COST OF PUBLIC EDUCATION 405 

for both elementary and secondary schools than all but one of 
the 17 cities in the list. Measured in terms of its capacity to 
support schools the city is endowing elementary and secondary 
education more liberally than any other city of its class. 

Table LXXXVI shows the per cent of the total expendi- 
tures devoted to elementary and secondary schools. Although 
ranking near the top of the list in its actual per pupil expendi- 
ture for both elementary and secondary schools, yet as judged 
by common practice of the cities in this group Grand Rapids is 
spending a rather large proportion of its school moneys for high 

TABLE LXXXVI 

Per Cent of Current Expenditures Devoted to Elementary and 
Secondary Schools; also Rank of 17 cities.* 

Per Cent of Total Cur- Rank in Per Cent of 

rent Expenditures Devot- Total Current Ex- 

ed to : penditures Devoted to : 

Elementary Secondary Elementary Secondary 

CITY Schools Schools Schools Schools 

Albany 77.44 22.56 11 7 

Birmingham 81.78 18.22 7 11 

Bridgeport 88.39 11.61 1 17 

Cambridge 75.29 24.71 14 4 

Dayton 72.37 27.63 17 1 

Des Moines 77.25 22.75 12 6 

Fall River 79.86 20.14 10 8 

GRAND RAPIDS 76.65 23.35 13 5 

Lowell 82.08 17.92 5 13 

Lynn 74.72 25.28 15 3 

Nashville 82.25 17.75 4 14 

New Bedford 82.07 17.93 6 12 

Paterson 82.82 17.18 3 15 

Richmond 80.10 19.90 9 9 

San Antonio 83.62 16.38 2 16 

Scranton 81.26 19.73 8 10 

Springfield 73.52 26.48 16 2 

* There were no data reported for Memphis and Kansas City, Kansas. Data from 

U. S. Commissioner's Report, 1915, Vol. II. 

schools. The Board has been emphasizing the development of 
high-school education not only in its building scheme but also 
in its operating and maintenance expenses. During the past five 
years the Board of Education has entered upon a definite policy 
of developing the junior high or intermediate schools. Since 
1910-11 the Central Grammar School has been developed into a 
fairly complete Junior High School, and manual training shops 
with complete equipment have been added together with other 
special departments common to high-school education. The 
Union School has in the meantime been extended to include all 
years of the senior high school with a consequent enlargement 
of staff by extra, regular and special teachers. During the cur- 
rent year the new South High School has been opened with work 
extending to the tenth year. It is planned to extend the work 
offered in this school one grade each year until it will form a 



406 



SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 









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DIAGRAM LXXXIX— Number of pupils 
primary grades and 



per teacher in high school, grammar grades, 
kindergarten — 1910-1915. 



408 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

complete six-year high school. This rapid high-school develop- 
ment has meant four things: 1, a rapidly increasing secondary 
staff; 2, a parallel decrease in the size of class (the tendency in 
these directions is shown by Tables LXXXVII and LXXXVIII 
and Diagram LXXXIX) ; 3, a decided increase in the secondary 
payroll; 4, a parallel increase in the salary schedule. 

During the six years from September 1909 to September 
1915 the number of secondary teachers increased 78 per cent, 
while the high-school enrollment increased 28 per cent. In the 
same interval the number of elementary-school teachers in- 
creased 19 per cent wth an accompanying increase in enrollment 
of three per cent. The building of a new high school invariably 
means a considerable addition to the secondary staff. With the 
new plant before them a Board of Education will sanction con- 
siderable increases in the number of new teachers. This is shown 
in the increase in September 1915, at which time 22 new teachers 
were added to the staff with the opening of the South High 
School. The table shows further that during the three years, 
1909-10 to 1911-12, the size of the average secondary class de- 
creased from 23.4 pupils per teacher (based on average number 
belonging) to 19.7; during the same time there was practically 
no drop in the size of elementary classes. From 1911-12 there 
was a marked reduction in the number of grammar pupils per 
teacher, size of class falling to 27.2 in 1914-15. At the same time 
the size of the primary and kindergarten classes decreased by 
3.5 and 3.1 pupils respectively. It must be said on the whole 
however that there has not been as much recognition of the 
need for small classes in the lowest grades as there should have 
been to keep pace with the reduction in the upper ones. 

' At this point we need a comparison of the size of class in 
elementary and secondary schools in the various cities of the 
Grand Rapids group. Table LXXXIX and Diagram XC supply 
the data. Ranking the cities inversely to the size of class shows 
Grand Rapids to stand third in the list of 19, with a secondary 
class of 19.6. If the minimum size of class may be taken as 
synonymous with maximum opportunity for the development of 
efficient instruction, then Grand Rapids, among the cities of its 
class in the country, is offering an unusual opportunity for the 
raising of instructional efficiency in its high-school classes. 

The figures given above for its elementary classes are taken 
from the 1915 Report of the United States Bureau of Education 
in order to make them as comparable as possible with the other 
cities of the list. It will be noted that the commissioner's fig- 
ures state the average size of the elementary class in Grand 
Rapids as 27.4 and that this result does not check the figures in 



COST OF PUBLIC EDUCATION 409 

Table LXXXVIII (as it gives the average size of all elementary 
classes). In that table (the data of v^hich are taken directly 
from the printed manual of the Board of Education 1915-16) it 
is shown that the average size of the grammar class is substant- 
ially as stated in Table LXXXIX, 27.2. At the same time the 
average primary class is 32. Using this figure in Table 
LXXXIX shows Grand Rapids to rank 10th instead of 4th, 
which is below the average in the list of cities in its class. This 
confirms our view taken above that the Board of Education has 
been endowing secondary education somewhat at the expense of 
primary education. It is doubtless true that the size of the 
grammar grade classes is small enough to conduce to efficient 
teaching. It is less true of the size of primary classes. 

It is pertinent to our inquiry to note that the primary en- 
rollment in the public schools has not increased in six years. It 
has in fact decreased. The grammar grades continue to hold a 
slightly larger group each year; the high schools have shown a 
marked increase in enrolment in two years. 

To an impartial observer the facts set forth above mean 
that the city does not have on its hands the problem of housing, 
equiping, and teaching very large increases in its elementary 
school population each year. It does not face, as Cleveland 
and many other cities do, the necessity of making large addi- 
tions to the staff each year to take care of thousands or even 
hundreds of new elementary pupils. If we can judge from the 
curves of growth of the last fifteen years the increase in the 
grade population will undoubtedly be slow. At the same time, 
without doubt, there will be a constantly increasing annual addi- 
tion to the enrollment in the high school. In this Grand Rapids 
is feeling the same larger demand for high-school education 
that is being felt by the other cities of the country. This all 
means that while the Board will probably need to make small 
additions to the secondary teaching staff each year, it will not 
need to make the very large additions that it has been forced to 
make recently. 

In this connection Table CI, inserted later in the report, is 
of interest. The data on the average size of class in different 
departments of the Central High School for the first semester 
of 1915-16 indicate that Grand Rapids has a number of very 
small classes in the special subjects, e. g. domestic art, domestic 
science, drawing and art, although it has developed a large Eng- 
lish department. Its classes in English are large (the average is 
30) when judged by the common practice. With these except- 
ions the average size of class enrolled in different departments 
follows the average of all city high-school classes very closely. 



410 



SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 



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DIAGRAM XC — Number of pupils per teacher in elementary and secondary schools. 



412 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

In consideration of the elementary school situation it should 
be said that the educational department has been giving con- 
siderable attention to the development of special schools, and 
special types of work. This is v^ell shown in Tables LXXXVII 
and LXXXVIII, by the increase in enrollment in the auxiliary 
schools and classes (68 to 150 since 1911), and in the growth of 
ungraded work. At the same time the number of ungraded 
teachers has practically doubled, auxiliary teachers have in- 
creased from 4 to 12, special supervisors from 3 to 14, and kinder- 
garten supervisors from 16 to 31. This indicates that in con- 
nection with the elementary phases of school work the attention 
has been given largely to special types of school work. 

It was found above that Grand Rapids is spending a large 
amount of money on both elementary and secondary schools. 
Two factors could contribute to this condition: 1, a small 
number of pupils taught by each teacher ; 2, a large average sal- 
ary paid. The first factor has been found to exist; that is, 
Grand Rapids requires a teacher to teach a relatively small 
number of pupils. The city has been shown to rank high in its 
attention to reduction of size of class in the high schools and 
grammar grades of the elementary schools. We need the facts 
next as to the average salaries paid to different grades of teach- 
ers and as to the way in which these salaries compare with those 
of other cities. 

Table XC shows the median or average salary paid (accord- 
ing to the 1915-16 payroll) to various grades of teachers and in 

TABLE XC 

Median or Average Annual Salaries paid to Various Grades of 
Teachers in Grand Rapids Schools, 1915-1916.* 

Amount 

1. Central High School 1250 median 

2. Union High School 1200 median 

3. South High School 1050 median 

4. Junior High School: 

a. High School Department 950 median 

b. Junior Department 850 median 

c. Elementary Department 850 median 

5. Elementary School Teachers 800 median 

6. Manual Training Teachers 1200 median 

7. Auxiliary School for Exceptional Children 965 average 

8. Oral School for Deaf 930 average 

* Data from 1915-16 Payroll of Board of Education, exclusive of Principals, As- 
sistant Principals and Directors of Special Subjects. 

the various high schools. As has been indicated elsewhere in 
this report the Board of Education has not been supporting the 
three high schools equally. In the matter of salaries paid there 
is also a progressive increase from the Junior High School with 
a median salary of $950, to the South High School with a median 
salary of $1,050, to the Union High School with a median salary 



COST OF PUBLIC EDUCATION 413 

of $1,200, and finally to the Central High School with a median 
salary of $1,250. 

Tables XCI, XCII and XCIII compare the median salaries 
paid and the salary schedule of Grand Rapids with 16 other 
cities ; also the increase in the salary schedule in Grand Rapids 
during the past nine years. It is found that Grand Rapids leads 
the list again in the typical salary which it pays to elementary 
school teachers. Together with Des Moines and Lowell it pays 
a median salary of $800. It should be remembered that the 
Board of Education recently increased the salary schedule of 
elementary teachers for the third time in nine years. Table 
XCIII shows how this growth has come about. Since 1907 the 
Board of Education gradually extended the number of years of 
service through which it is possible to secure further increase in 
salary. This has resulted in extending the number of years for 
elementary teachers from 8 to 12 years with an accompanying 
increase in possible maximum salary from $750 to $1,000. Thus 
Table XCII shows that the city now ranks second in the maxi- 
mum salary that it is possible for elementary teachers to secure. 
In this the city has kept abreast of the most progressive practice 
in this country. 

The situation is nearly as satisfactory in the case of the 
high-school salaries. The median high-school salary paid in 
Grand Rapids is $1,200 and this places the city in the top third 
of 19 cities. At the same time it has in like manner recently ex- 
tended its high-school salary schedules with a consequent result 
that in 12 years of service, a teacher can advance to $1,350. 
There is no distinction made between the salaries of men and 
women as in many other cities, with the result that the maximum 
salary possible for men, places Grand Rapids thirteenth in the 
list. 

On the other hand Grand Rapids ranks 13th in the list of 19 
cities in the median salary paid to elementary school principals, 
with a median of $1,030. (Table XCI presents the data.) With 
the increase in the salaries of the grades and high-school teachers 
there has not been a sufficient increase in the salary paid to ele- 
mentary school principals to bring them to the average of the 
group. An elementary school principal in Grand Rapids is not 
a teaching principal ; she is primarily a supervisory officer. The 
results of this tabulation confirm the discussion made above of 
supervisors. It is a fair question whether more attention ought 
not to be paid to the supervisory phase of educational adminis- 
tration. 



414 



SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 






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COST OF PUBLIC EDUCATION 



415 



TABLE XCII 



Salary Schedules for High School Teachers (17 cities) and Ele- 
mentary School Teachers (10 cities).* 



CITY 


M 


HIGH SCHOOLS: 
MEN WOMEN 
inimum Maximum Minimum Maximum 


ELEMENTARY 

SCHOOLS: 

WOMEN 

Minimum Maximum 


Albany 




1000 


1900 


750 


1000 


500 


800 


Bridgeport 




1000 


1250 


1000 


1250 






Cambridge 




900 


1800 


750 


950 


500 


900 


Dayton 




1000 


1500 


900 


1500 






Des Moines 




1000 


1400 


800 


1400 






Fall River 




800 


1800 


800 


1200 


700 




GRAND RAPIDSt 


800 


1350 


800 


1350 


500 


1000 


Kansas City .... 




900 


1700 


900 


1700 


600 


930 


LoweU 




800 


2000 


650 


1000 


650 


, 700$ 


Lynn 




700 


1200 


650 


1100 






Memphis 




660 


1320 


480 


1320 






Nashville 




900 


1700 


900 


1700 


400 


700$ 


New Bedford ... 




1000 


1700 


800 


1200 


550 


875 


Paterson 




1100 


1800 


800 


1200 


475 


1050 






810 
1000 


1800 
1250 


630 
1000 


1400 
1250 


405 
500 


765 


Scranton , 




900 


Springfield 




950 


1900 


750 


1300 







* Data from following sources: (1) U. S. Bureau Education, Bulletin No. 16, 1914. 
(2) Manuals of the Board of Education, Grand Rapids. (3) Correspondence with Super- 
intendents and Business Managers. 

t Data from 1915-16 Manual of Board of Education, 

t Accuracy of data in doubt. 



416 



SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 



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418 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

Summary of the "Cost" Findings 

The outstanding facts of the cost of pubUc education in 
Grand Rapids are summarized in Table XCIV. Together with 
the detailed tables and discussion of the foregoing pages it sum- 
marizes the evidence concerning the statements made on page 
1. 1. We have shown that Grand Rapids spends more for school 
purposes per inhabitant than all but two other cities of its class, 
and that it spends more for school purposes per $1000 of real 
wealth than all but five other cities of its class. 2. It devotes a 
larger part of its municipal income to the public schools than 
all but three other cities of the same wealth. 3. We have shown 
that it has repeatedly failed to take advantage of its capacity 
for making improvements through local taxation; that it has 
sold bonds each year for such purposes when all needed funds 
could have been raised through taxation without exceeding the 
legal limit. 4. It provides a larger number of teachers for its 
elementary schools than all but three other cities in the group; 
and a larger number of teachers for its secondary schools than 
all but two other cities in the group. 5. It pays as high an aver- 
age salary to its elementary teachers as any other city in the 
country of the same size and wealth ; its average salary to high- 
school teachers is exceeded by three cities in the group ; it de- 
votes considerably less money, however, to the payment of prin- 
cipals, ranking thirteenth in a list of 19 cities. 6. It spends 
more money per pupil in average daily attendance for business 
purposes than all but two other cities in its class and more money 
per pupil for educational purposes than all but one other city in 
its class. 7. Although endowing both educational and business 
purposes so highly when judged by its pupil expenditure, the 
Board of Education in Grand Rapids devotes a larger amount of 
attention to business matters than to educational matters when 
compared with other cities of the group. The table reveals that it 
gives a larger per cent of its total expenditures to business pur- 
poses than all but four cities of its class at the same time that it 
gives a smaller per cent of its total expenditures to educational 
purposes than all but four other cities of its class. 8. Analysis of 
the Board's expenditures for particular kinds of educational ser- 
vice reveals that it is spending more than the average of the cities 
of its class for each general type of educational activity, ad- 
ministration, supervision and instruction, operation of plant, and 
maintenance of plant. 9. That it has distributed its educational 
funds equitably between current expenditures and capital outlay 
is revealed by the fact that it has spent more for permanent im- 
provements during the past five years than all but one of the 19 
cities in its class. 10. More detailed analysis of its current ex- 



COST OF PUBLIC EDUCATION 419 

penditures shows that it has failed to give the same proportionate 
emphasis to supervision and instruction, and to operation of the 
plant, that it has given to administration, and maintenance of the 
plant. 11. The Board of Education in Grand Rapids, v^hile 
spending more per pupil for both elementary and secondary 
school purposes than all but one of the cities of its class, has 
given a larger proportionate emphasis to high-school education 
than to elementary school education. 

Section D. Administrative Policies of the Board of Education. 

1. Policy of the Board as to Source of Revenue for Capital 
Outlay. 

(a) Financing Permanent Improvements Through Taxation. 

In discussing the distribution of school moneys betv^een current 
expenses and permanent improvements reference v^as made 
to the general policy that the Board has established since 1906 
of developing the school plant. In that connection we treated 
the general question of the development of school plant and the 
amount of money spent. No detailed analysis wsls made hov^- 
ever of the v^ay in vv^hich Grand Rapids is raising its money for 
permanent improvements. This is one of the most pertinent prob- 
lems of school business management. 

There are two methods by which the Board of Education 
may raise funds for capital outlay: first, by local taxation; sec- 
ond, by selling bonds. The city that adopts the first policy at- 
tempts to pay for its school plant as it goes. It places a premium 
on economical methods of financng the development of its 
physical plant. It aligns itself with the soundest school practice 
as recommended by those who have given the study of capital 
outlay for school purposes the most careful attention. 
What has been the situation in Grand Rapids? 
Diagram LXXIX shows graphically the facts set down in 
Table LXIII, the total possible amount of money available for 
the purposes of permanent school improvements during the past 
10 years. It shows clearly that the Board has not been permitted 
in any year to take advantage of even 40 per cent of its legal ca- 
pacity for taxation for improvements. We must say "not per- 
mitted" for there is distinct evidence that the Board has tried 
consistently to raise considerable money for building purposes 
through the budget. As noted above, the Board does not have 
tax levying power. This is invested in the Common Council. 
In making the budget for 1915-16 the only fairly large item the 
Common Council would approve was one for $77,960, for paying 
off maturing bonds and interest. In addition they perrnitted one 



420 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

item of $20,000 for additional work on the South High School. 
Several items of $35,000.00, $16,000.00, $17,000.00, $13,0000.00, for 
new sites development of certain elementary schools were all 
eliminated, a total that year of $135,000 in the matter of perman- 
ent school improvements alone. It seems practically impossible to 
secure approval of budgetary items for permanent improvements 
of any size. This is clearly shown by Table XCV and Diagram 
XCL They compare, for each of the past six years, the amounts 
actually spent for permanent improvements with the amounts 
that the Board of Education attempted to get from taxation and 
the amounts that the Common Council approved. In only one 
year did the Common Council approve all that the Board of Edu- 
cation requested. This was in 1913-14 when the permanent im- 
provements budget was composed largely of an item for the pay- 
ment of bonds and interest. In fact during the six years the 
amounts allowed have been mainly for the purpose of paying 
bonds and interest. In addition small items for refurnishing, 
plumbing and alterations have been allowed. 



TABLE XCV 

Comparison of the Board of Education and Common Council Bud- 
gets, together with Amounts spent for Permanent Improvements, 1910- 
11 to 1915-16 inclusive.* 

Amount In- 
cluded in Com- 
mon Council Bud- 
Total Amount get to be De- 
Board of Common Spent for voted to Pay- 
Education Council Permanent ment of Bonds 
YEAR Budget Budget Improvements and Interest 

1910-11 201,443.79 107,897.11 404,466.14 49,860 

1911-12 ' 183,166.50 121,166.50 245,751.97 78,792 

1912-13 103,785.50 97,055.50 157,159.14 80,577 

1913-14 100,089.00 100,089.00 89,880.59 64,095 

1914-15 273,792.00 . 126,792.00 249,594.73 101,292 

1915-16 233,310.00 98,960.00 545,771.48 77,960 

* Data from Official Proceedings of the Board of Education. 

These facts are shown more in detail by Table XCVI which 
gives the distribution of the amount of permanent improvements 
paid out of the budget in the ten years 1906-15 inclusive. It 
shows clearly that the Common Council adopts a policy of not 
permitting the buying of sites, making of large additions to build- 
ings or erecting new buildings from the budget. The annual 
budgetary summaries show that the Board has consistently tried 
to finance such items as new sites in this manner. That they 
are not successful is shown by the elimination of $133,500 from 
the 1914-15 budget. At the same time the Common Council 



COST OF PUBLIC EDUCATION 



421 



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DIAGRAM XCI — Comparison of Board of Education Budget for Permanent Improve- 
ments with Budget Approved by Common Council. 



422 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

seldom cuts down, in any large measure, the "current expendi- 
tures" portion of the budget. 

In this connection it should be stated that the business or- 
ganization of the Board of Education has safeguarded the budget- 
ary procedure very well. It prepares a detailed and well-ana- 
lyzed budget with which it goes to the Common Council for ap- 
proval. There is no doubt that this tends to eliminate some of 
the unnecessary cutting of the budget. At least it places on the 
Board of Estimate and the Common council the necessity of the 
critical consideration of particular needs of the school system and 
tends to prevent wholesale reduction of the budget. 

(b) Bonding policy Concerning Permanent School Improve- 
ments. We have established the fact that the city is not raising 
its money for improving the school plant from current taxation. 
It is raising it by selling bonds. Tables XCVII, XCVIII, XCIX 
and C and Diagrams XCII and XCIII answer certain questions 
concerning the Board's practice. To what extent has the Board 
bonded itself each year during the past 30 years? What has 
been the rate of interest? For what terms do the bonds run? 
How are the bond issues distributed in the building plan of the 
Board among different types of schools? How have the out- 
standing bond obligations of the Board accumulated? 

Table XCVII states the amounts of bonds issued each year 
since 1887 with the rate and term of each issue. Table XCVIII 
and Diagram XCIII show the total bonded indebtedness, both for 
school and all city purposes each year since 1890. This diagram 
pictures clearly the financial aspects of the building situation in 
the Grand Rapids schools during the past 25 years. Attention 
has already been called to the fact that from 1892 to 1908 there 
was very little development of the physical plant. Table XCVII 



TABLE XCVI 

Permanent Improvements paid for out of th< 

New 
YEAR New Sites Buildings 
1915 


e Budget 1906-1915.* 

Additions to Mis- 
Buildings cellaneoust 
1.000 


1914 


19,500 

19,744 

13,000 






25,500 


1913 






35,994 


1912 






16,478 


1911 

1910 


16,500.00 
40,443.91 
66,000.00 
14,437.00 
11,000.00 
30,000.00 


13,400.00 
17,593.20 
23,500.00 
20,992.64 
35,898.35 
20,000.00 


12,474 


1909 

1908 

1907 


15,000 
3,500 


1906 





* Data supplied by Business Manager of Grand Rapids Public Schools. 
t Miscellaneous includes: Permanent Improvements to old buildings, regrading, 
plumbing, playground work, remodeling, etc. 



COST OF PUBLIC EDUCATION 



423 



TABLE XCVII 

Total Amount of Bonds issued, Rate of 
which issued.* 

YEAR Total Amount 

1887 21,000 

1890 8,000 

1892 25,000 

1892 23,000 

1892 12,000 

1892 28,000 

1905 :.. 16,000 

1905 16,000 

1908 30,000 

1908 30,000 

1908 40,000 

1908 75,000 

1908 75,000 

1908 75,000 

1908 75,000 

1908 25,000 

1909 25,000 

1909 25,000 

1910 ;. 10,000 

1910 13,000 

1910 40,000 

1911 10,000 

1911 35,000 

1911 10,000 

1913 .^ 25,000 

1913 35,000 

1913 75,000 

1913 58,000 

1913 50,000 

1913 65,000 

1913 40,000 

1913 75,000 

1913 70,000 

1913 64,000 

* Data from Annual Reports of Board of Education. 



Interest and Term for 



Rate 
4 
4 

4/2 
4K2 

4H 

4 

4 

4/2 
4/2 
4/2 

4^ 

4/2 

4/ 
4/ 

4/2 

4 
4 
4 
4 
4 
4 
4 
4 

4/2 
4/2 
4/2 
4/2 
4/2 
4/2 
4/2 
4/2 

4/ 

4/2 



Term (years) 
20 
20 
16 
17 
18 
20 

2 

3 

2 

4 

5 

6 
10 
11 
12 
13 

6 

7 

5 

6 

7 
11 
12 
13 

3 

4 
15 
16 

8 

9 
10 
11 
12 
14 



TABLE XCVIII 

School and City Bonded Indebtedness 1890 to 1915.* On July 1, 

each year. 

Total City 
(Including 

YEAR School School) 

1890 $211,000.00 $ 977,000.00 

1891 237,000.00 1,009,000.00 

1892 397,000.00 1,867,000.00 

1893 338,000.00 1,735,100.00 

1894 351,900.00 1,994,000.00 

1895 351,900.00 1,763,900.00 

1896 330,000.00 1,635,000.00 

1897 312,000.00 1,770,000.00 

1898 297,000.00 1,884,000.00 

1899 282,500.00 2,107,500.00 

1900 256,000,00 2,057,000.00 

1901 247,000.00 1,991,000.00 

1902 237,000.00 2,102,000.00 

1903 227,000.00 2.212,000.00 

1904 218,000.00 2,212,000.00 

1905 250,000.00 2,093,000.00 

1906 204,000.00 1,871,000.00 

1907 „ 167,000.00 2,230,600.00 

1908 126,000.00 3,1 50.200.00 

1909 303,000.00 2,907,300 00 

1910 508,000.00 3,395,300.00 

1911 581.000.00 4.274,600.00 

1912 553,000.00 4,371.600.00 

1913 523,000.00 4.348,800.00 

1914 649,500.00 4,555.300.00 

1915 965,000.00 4,742,000.00 

* Data from 1915 Annual Report of the Board of Education. 



424 



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426 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

shows that no bonding for schools was done for thirteen years 
and practically none for twenty years, 1887 to 1909. In the mean- 
time the city paid off nearly all its outstanding indebtedness, the 
amount dropping in 1908 to $126,000. It was in this year that the 
Board issued bonds to the value of $425,000 largely for high- 
school development. It followed by small issues in 1909, 1910 
and 1911 and in 1913 issued again for $557,000. 

Table XCIX shows for what type of schools bonds were is- 
sued from 1887 to 1913. About two thirds of the issues were for 
new high schools, the remainder going to new elementary schools 
($365,000) and to additions to old elementary schools ($97,000). 
It is quite evident from an inspection of the bond issues proposed 
and not yet issued, that the Board is taking up a plan for elemen- 
tary-school development. 

It must be recognized that the expenditures for the past five 
years have been emergency expenditures. Due to their size and 
•concentration within a short space of time it was perhaps neces- 
sary to finance some part of this building scheme from bonds. 
But it seems quite evident that the future annual building for 
some years to come required by the Board could be financed in 
the budget. The business department at one time studied the life 
of the buildings in Grand Rapids and came to the conclusion that 
the life of an elementary school of the type built prior to the re- 
cent construction of fire-proof buildings is about thirty-five years. 
Thus Grand Rapids will probably have to face the problem of 
building at least one elementary school each year. In addition 
to this it clearly will be forced to replace some of its older build- 
ings at a more rapid rate. Even the most modern type of fire- 
proof building, such as the architectural department is now put- 
ting up (e. g. the new Sheldon School) can be built for less than 
$100,000. If put in the budget this would mean an addition of 
about six-tenths of a mill. If occasion demanded, two or more 
such additions could be easily cared for. 

The bonds issued under the earlier regime were long-time 
bonds, generally of the twenty-year type. There has been an at- 
tempt in the issuing of bonds since 1905 to issue short-term bonds 
and to distribute the amounts and term of the bonds as evenly 
as possible. From Table C it can be seen that outstanding bonds 
maturing in any year plus those bonds already authorized but 
not issued are so distributed as to mature at the rate of about 
$100,000 a year. This can be handled in the budget without dif- 
ficulty. 

Thus, granted that the Board is forced by political conditions 
to get its additions to the school plant from bond issuep, it ap- 



COST OF PUBLIC EDUCATION 



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428 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

TABLE C 

Total Amounts of Outstanding- Bonds Maturing each vcar. 1916 
to 1930.* 

Year — June 30 to July 1 Principal Interest Tolial 

1915-16 $35,000.00 $41,935.00 $76 935.00 

1916-17 t)3,uuu.uu 39,9i2 5U iu2'9i2 yJ 

1917-18 75,UUO.OU 3/,U02o0 112,U02 5U 

1918-19 75,UUU.OO 33,727.50 10o,7 2/.:.0 

1919-20 75,000.00 30,3:,2.dU 1uj,3j2 dO 

1920-21 75,OOU.OO 2o,977.50 101,977.50 

1921-22 75,OUU.UU 23,602.50 9«,0U2 oO 

1922-23 100,000.00 19,752.50 Ii9,7o2 50 

1923-24 50,000.00 16,49o.OU 66,490.00 

1924-25 75,000.00 13,702.50 88, 7u2 50 

1925-26 70,000.00 10,440.00 80,440.00 

1926-27 : 8,865.00 8,865.00 

1927-28 64,006.00 7,425.00 71.425.00 

1928-29 75,000.00 4,297.50 79,297.50 

1929-30 .-. 58,000.00 1,305.50 59,305.50 

Total Outstanding $965,000.00 $315,785.00 $1,280,788.00 

Authorized — 
Not Issued 

1920-21 $25,000.00 

1921-22 25,000.00 

1923-24 50,000.00 

1924-25 9,000.00 

1925-26 5,000.00 

1926-27 75,000.00 

1927-28 11,000.00 

Total : $200,000.00 

* Data from 1915 Report of the Board of Education. 

pears that the officers in charge are administering the raising of 
the money in an efficient manner. 

In this connection the relation between the time of issuing 
bonds and the completion of the contract for the payment for 
which they are issued is very important. Some cities have 
adopted the wasteful practice (sometimes enforced by statutor}^ 
requirements) of selling bonds months before the completion of 
the building contract, the funds in the meantime drawing a low 
rate of interest in the bank. This Grand Rapids does not do. 
Careful study of the procedure in its relation to building activity 
convinces one that the business department is handling these 
matters efficiently. There is an attempt to sell the bonds close 
to the time that they will be needed. The general administration 
of bonding on the part of the business department is to be com- 
mended. 

A condition of relative freedom from financial embarrassment 
does not justify a city in Grand Rapids' position in financing 
such outlay through bond issues. It is not difficult to justify the 
continued issuance of school bonds by a city if it is taking advan- 
tage of its capacity to make permanent improvements out of the 
budget. It is very difficult, on business principles, to justify the 
use of bonding methods if it has a large unused resource in taxa- 
tion. 

The most adequate treatment for the future could come 



COST OF PUBLIC EDUCATION 429 

through legislation placing the taxing power in the hands of the 
Board of Education. As indicated above, to do so would bring 
Grand Rapids in line with the most progressive practice in the 
administration of school finance. The reorganization of the 
Board under the new charter 10 years ago eliminated political 
influences from the immediate administration of the Board's edu- 
cational and business services. The Board should look forward 
to a reorganization of taxing methods which will put the raising 
of school funds on such a basis that real use can be made of a 
scientifically planned budget. 

Section E. The Financial Aspects of Intermediate and Second- 
ary Education. 

1. The Cost of the High School Subjects. 

A much discussed question the past few years is the cost 
of teaching the high-school subjects. With the rapid develop- 
ment of high-school departments, new ones constantly being 
added, the older ones have been brought on the defensive. Re- 
cently we have had emphasized in curriculum construction the 
purely financial criterion, namely — subjects shall be permitted in 
the secondary course of study if they do not cost too much. We 
must frankly admit, however, that we do not know how much the 
different subjects ought to cost. Is English expensive at $50 
per 1000 student hours? Mathematics at $90? Should mathe- 
matics cost 80 per cent more than English? No one knows. We 
simply know in the case of a few communities how much theyf 
do pay. Again one is forced to use the criterion of common prac- 
tice. 

In Table CI the cost of each of the departments of the Cen- 
tral High School is compared with those of the same department 
of high schools in twenty-five other cities. The data are given 
for the two years 1914-15 and 1915-16, and to avoid the fluctuation 
due to irregularity in size of classes, the costs are averaged. It 
must be noted that these cities, with possibly three exceptions, 
are not in Grand Rapids' population class. The data are used 
here in this form merely because data on the cost of high-school 
subjects are not available for the cities that have been used 
throughout this study. It is merely affirmed therefore that com- 
pared with these twenty-five cities. Grand Rapids stands in the 
particular position noted. If it had been possible to get the data 
on the cities in question, we should have done so. 

Several facts may be noted from the table. The better es- 
tablished subjects, e. g. English, Mathematics and Latin, show 
slight fluctuations in cost for the two years for which they were 



430 



SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 



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COST OF PUBLIC EDUCATION 431 

computed. This means that the number of pupils electing the 
subject was relatively stable. The opposite is true of the newer 
subjects, domestic science and art, the commercial subjects. 
French and Spanish enroll but few students and slight changes in . 
enrollment affect the costs very considerably. 

The data on size of class, Table CII, help us to understand 
the costs of the different departments when compared with each 
other. On the average, English teachers teach 50 per cent more 
pupils than the other subjects (drawing excepted) with a size 
of class of 30. Most of the other departments have an average 
size of class of about 17 to 20. Judged by the practice of Grand 
Rapids' group, the English classes are large. Judged by the 
amount of detail entailed in teaching English, it might be ques- 
tioned whether they are not too large. (They are, of course, 
smaller than those in many cities.) 

Diagrams which were drawn to accompany Table XXXIX 
(taken from Dr. Bobbitt's study of High School Costs in the 
School Review, October 1915) show clearly where Grand Rapids 
is when compared with the twenty-five cities for which data are 
available. Dr. Bobbitt's diagrams are so drawn as to show 
very clearly two factors: 1. the absolute amount spent for each 
of the subjects; 2. the position of each city in group. 

TABLE CII 
Average Size of Classes in Central High School for year 1915-1916.* 

No. of Average 

DEPARTMENTS No. of Classes Pupils Enrolled Class Enrolled 

Commercial 20 339 17 

Domestic Art 10 116 12 

Domestic Science 6 81 14 

Drawing and Art 5 65 13 

Drawing and Shop 5 150 30 

English ■- 46 1257 30 

French 5 87 17 

German 14 252 18 

History 20 399 20 

Latin 16 299 19 

Mathematics 28 578 20 

Science 23 509 22 

Spanish 3 53 18 

* Data from Official Program of Central High School and from Teachers' Semester 
Reports on Enrollment, Attendance, Etc. 

We can study graphically, therefore, the position of Grand 
Rapids in its teaching costs, when compared with these other 
communities. The diagrams show that in seven subjects (Mathe- 
matics, History, English, Science, Modern Language, Domestic 
Science and Art and_Commercial Studies) out of nine. Grand 
Rapids spends more than the median city in the group. Only in 
shopwork and Latin is it below the median. For English it pays 
almost exactly the median amount, $52. For mathematics it is 



432 SCHOOL SURVEY. GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

admittedly paying a large amount, only three public high schools 
in the list paying more. Again it must be stated that these fig- 
ures are not thoroughly comparable because in most of these 
'communities the salary schedules are believed to be lower than 
in Grand Rapids. According to our tables, the household oc- 
cupations are expensive subjects to teach, due to the very small 
classes enrolled. 

These data on departmental cost bear out the analysis made 
throughout this study that nearly all phases of education in 
Grand Rapids are expensive. The city is spending an unusual 
amount of money on its schools, on its high schools especially. 
It is providing small classes, thereby enhancing the ''probability" 
of good instruction. This study of costs emphasizes the need for 
a thorough study of the outcomes of high school instruction. 
Are the English classes doing efficient work under an average 
class of 30? Are the household subjects turning out a product up 
to the standard demanded by the very small size of class under 
which they are operating? Can the high cost of mathematics 
be justified? 

This part of the survey cannot answer these questions. The 
answer can come only through detailed analysis of the outcomes 
of teaching in each of the departments. The cost study can result 
in the following statement, however : Grand Rapids is providing 
a good high-school salary schedule (lower than the average of 
cities of its class, nevertheless) ; it is providing enough teachers 
in most of its classes so that the number of pupils per teacher 
is smaller than in most cities of its class ; it is paying more than 
the average for high-school instruction ; it is housing its high- 
school pupils munificently ; it is liberally equipping these school- 
houses with apparatus and supplies. In a word, it is giving a 
large amount of opportunity for the development of efficient high- 
school teaching. 

2. The Cost of Intermediate Education. 

It has been pointed out in this report that Grand Rapids 
has committed itself to a complete program of reorganization 
in the intermediate grades, i. e. the seventh, eighth and ninth. 
Since the school year 1910-11, six types of intermediate education 
have been in evidence. These are: 1. The retention of the tradi- 
tional grade form of instruction in the seventh and eighth 
grades of many of the elementary schools; 2. The gradual de- 



COST OF PUBLIC EDUCATION 433 

partmentalizing of one of these grade schools (Sigsbee) ; 3. The 
retention of the ninth grade work in the Senior High School ; 

4. The segregation of the seventh, eighth and ninth grade work 
in the Junior High School (together with some lower work) ; 

5. The inclusion of all grades of intermediate education in the 
Union School ; 6. The beginning of a complete six-year high 
school, extending from the seventh to the twelfth grade in- 
clusive. 

It was originally planned to make a comparative study of the 
cost of instruction in the seventh, eighth and ninth grades in each 
of these types of intermediate education. For this purpose five 
representative grade schools giving instruction through the 8-2 
grade were selected, namely — Coldbrook, Hall, Lexington, Pal- 
mer and South Division. The semester costs of instruction per 
pupil enrolled were computed for these schools for the second 
semester of each of the years 1911 to 1915 inclusive, and for the 
first semester of 1915-16. These computations are believed to be 
valid and are reproduced in this report as Table CHI. They were 
computed from the teachers' salary rolls and the teachers' sem- 
ester reports on enrollment. (The figures for enrollment are used 
throughout this discussion because those for average daily at- 
tendance were not available.) 

The data were next secured from each of the high-school 
programs and semester reports for the ninth grade. This nec- 
essitated checking with the principal's office the program for 
each Iiigh school for each year. The amount of time devoted 
by each teacher to the various year-subjects she taught was 
prorated as accurately as possible. (No attempt was made to 
include music and physical education as the subjects and the 
classes taught were so mixed in grade-composition as to be un- 
analyzable.) It is believed that the ninth grade costs are fairly 
to be relied upon. Thus we can compare costs for instruction in 
regular seventh and eighth grades with ninth-grade costs in 
high schools, with but slight amount of error in our judgment. 
Table CIV gives the data. 

Similar data were desired for the seventh and eighth grade 
in the high schools giving instruction in those years. Programs 
were secured and an attempt was made to prorate the time of 
teachers to the different grades. In the case of the regular grade 
teachers it is felt that this was accurately done. With the special 
subjects arid teachers it was extremely difficult to do so. The 



434 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 






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COST OF PUBLIC EDUCATION 435 

matter was complicated by the fact that programs are built by 
subjects and not by years. Although the courses follow a certain 
grade order fairly well, the enrollments in them overlap. Furth- 
ermore, in the case of the Junior High School, programs were not 
available for previous years by which all time could be accurately 
prorated. The special teachers in this school could only divide 
their time by memory, an extremely insecure basis in any event. 
The result is that we feel that the figures for the cost of instruc- 
tion in the seventh and eighth grades in the two high schools 
(Junior and South) are to be taken as only rough indications of 
the tendency in the relative costs of intermediate education dur- 
ing these years and in these schools. 

The figures obtained for the Junior High School (1912, 1913, 
1914, 1915, 1916) and the South High School, first semester of 
1915-16 are as follows: 



436 



SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 



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COST OF PUBLIC EDUCATION 437 

Bearing in mind the limitations in the validity of the data, 
there are several outstanding facts of interest and importance 
in connection with this vital problem of the reorganization of 
the grades. 

First: The cost of teaching both the seventh and eighth 
grades in the traditional elementary schools is fairly well stand- 
ardized throughout the city. The cost d'oes not vary widely in 
any one grade in the five representative elementary schools sel- 
ected in any one year. (This is contributed to, no doubt, by the 
relative permanence of the teaching staff, most of the upper 
grade teachers having nearly reached the same salary limit.) 
There are certain exceptions to this statement in the data, but 
we have not the educational evidence at hand to trace the cause 
for their occurrence. 

Second : It costs one to two dollars more per pupil per sem- 
ester to teach eighth grade pupils than it does to teach seventh 
grade pupils. In twenty-two instances out of thirty in the 
above table, eighth-grade costs exceed seventh-grade costs. The 
amount of excess is relatively^ small, however. One may feel 
that in these representative schools of Grand Rapids the upper 
levels of the elementary; grades are being financed as a unit. 

Third. Allowing for possible errors in the data from which 
costs for the seventh and eighth grade instruction in the Junior 
and South High Schools were computed it may safely be con- 
cluded that the segregation of the upper grades in the so-called 
intermediate school means a very considerable addition to the 
cost of instruction. A semester's instruction in the regularly 
organized eighth grade, costs about $12.00 per pupil enrolled. A 
semester's instruction in the eighth grade as organized in the 
intermediate school costs very nearly $20.00. A regularly organ- 
ized seventh grade costs about $11.00 per semester; an ''interme- 
diate" or "junior high school" seventh grade costs very nearly 
$18.00 per semester. 

Fourth : It cost relatively little more for one semester's 
instruction in the ninth grades of the four high schools than it 
does for the eighth grades in the intermediate school. There is 
a difference of perhaps $2.00 or ten per cent on the average. 
Where eighth grade education costs about $20.00 per pupil per 
semester, ninth grade education costs about $22.00. 

The computations, even when regarded as but approximate 
in the determination of grade costs, point to the following con- 
clusion. The cost of instruction in the intermediate grades of the 
city schools is largely determined byf the t^pe of organization 
under which the administration operates. Seventh and eighth 
grades are being taught under two particularly different types 



438 



SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 



TABLE CV 
Semester Costs of Instruction per Pupil Enrolled for Various Special Classes.*^ 





• AUXILIARY CLASSES IN: 




Auxiliary School 


Straight School 


Widdicomb School 






-s 






•s 


t3 




t5 


-2 


YEAR 


4) 


o 




CO 


o 

w 


2 


to 

4) 




Per 
Enroll 










>— ' u 








O— ' 






iSrt-^ 


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m S. 


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O 3 


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O 3 




O 3 


O 3 ! 




Hc/^p^ 


^^ 


UPh 


Hc/2pS 


;?PM 


UPh 


Hc^^p^ 


^P. 


UPh ' 


1901 


$800 


53 




■ $400 


15 








.... 


,J 


1906 




1911 


$15.09 


$26.66 




1912 


1225 
1725 


58 
59 


21.12 
29.15 


400 
425 


18 
20 


22 22 




i's 




1913 


21.25 $326.70 


^18.15 < 


1914 


1830 


62 


29.51 


450 


17 


26.47 350.00 


18 


19.44 


1915 


1830 


55 


33.27 


450 


14 


32.14 310.25 


18 


17.23 


* Data from teachers' 


payrolls and semester reports. 










TAB 


LE C 


VI 








^ 





Cost per Pupil Enrolled for Instruction in (1) The Auxiliary School; 
(2) Auxiliary Classes in Regular Elementary Schools; (3) The Oral 
School for the Deaf. 





The 
Auxiliary 
School 


Auxiliary Classes 
in Elementary Schools: 


Oral 
School 
for the 

Deaf 


Auxiliary 


Classes 








YEAR 


Straight 


Widdi- 
comb 


Cold- 
brook 


Junior 
High 
School 


Franklin 
School 


1901 


l'5.'09 
20.77 
29.15 
29.51 
33.27 


26."66 
22.22 
21.25 
26.47 
32.14 


18.15 
19.44 
17.23 


22."66 


60. ?1 

59.21 
30.00 
51.85 
60.34 
40.00 
65.38 


19.'77 




1906 




1911 




1912 




1913 




1914 




1915 


21.43 







TABLE CVII 

Semester Cost of Instruction Per Pupil Enrolled in 7th and 8th 
Grades in two Intermediate Schools. 



1912 : 

1913 

1915 

1916 (first semester) 



JUNIOR 

7th Grade 8th Grade 

24.10 15.93 

15.66 16.80 
22.23 24.05 

15.67 21.83 



SOUTH 
7th Grade 8th Grade 



14.03 



18.96 



COST OF PUBLIC EDUCATION 



439 



Junior High 


School 


Coldbrook School 


Franklin School 


Oral 


School 
Deaf 


for the 




1 


^3 




TS 

ii 


13 




t3 


-2 




•S 




(0 


s 


s 




o 


"2 


<u 


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c 
W 


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fS« 


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5 
W 


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O 3 


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$60 71 








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1125 

900 

1400 

1750 


19 
30 
27 
29 


59 21 










30 Ul» 










51 85 










60 34 


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22 


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1200 


30 


40 00 






$375 


17. 


$22.06 


$450 


21 


$2i.43 


1700 


26 


65.38 









of organization. It is believed that the above data show that one 
is costing much more than the other. A previous section of this 
study has shown that the salary schedule increases with the in- 
crease of general level taught, that is; that junior high school 
teachers are being paid more than grammar grade teachers, 
and senior high school teachers are paid more than junior high 
school teachers. 

The above analysis is merely a financial one. It is not possi- 
ble to explain these costs clearly in this report by specific educa- 
tional evidence. Doubtless there are educational outcomes of the 
segregated type of intermediate education that will justify an 
increase in per pupil cost of sixty to seventy per cent. With such 
an important reorganization as is involved in the changes re- 
cently made in this school system, each of the administrative 
agencies should be brought to bear on an attempt to evaluate 
every phase of the problem. Among others, the statistical and 
financial departments could well make a detailed analysis of the 
problem of costs throughout all levels of education represented 
in the city system. The present diversity in types of organization 
under which the Grand Rapids school system is operating is 
fairly unique. The educational and business departments have 
an opportunity to carry on an instructional and financial inquiry 
that would result in a distinct contribution to the solving of a 



440 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

very important problem. The accuracy of the analysis made in 
this report has been partly limited by inadequacy of historical 
data. The administrative officers could perfect the methods of 
collecting the data and would then be in a position to determine 
future procedure by pertinent experimental educational and fin- 
ancial evidence. Wholesale reorganization hardly should be un- 
dertaken without thorough experimentation on a limited scale 
which would in turn result in specific outcomes in the way of 
principles of educational and financial procedure. 



CHAPTER XV 

THE BUSINESS MANAGE- 
MENT OF THE PUBLIC 
SCHOOLS 



Harold O. Rugg 



General Organization 

There are two major departments in the administration of a 
school system : the educational department and the business de- 
partment. They both are phas-es of one educational scheme, the 
machinery of which has been set up by the city for the education 
of its children. Each department may keep its autonomy just 
to the degree that it necessarily makes a specialized contribution 
to the teaching of children. 

Grand Rapids administers its schools through a dual organi- 
zation. Its purely instructional and supervisory affairs are man- 
aged by a superintendent of schools. Its material and business 
affairs are managed by a business manager. Each major ofl'icer 
reports immediately to a committee of the board, the superin- 
tendent to the educational committee, the manager to the busi- 
ness committee. The superintendent also confers with the busi- 
ness committee. Diagram XCIV represents the distribution of 
general functions in the Grand Rapids school system. It shows 
that the educational and business matters of the board are being 
regarded as two distinct phases of school administration. It is 
very clear that there is no one executive officer over the whole 
school system who brings in review each week, each month or 
each year all the different types of activity contributing to the 
education of children. 

The business department of the public schools may be re- 
garded as a very essential organization to aid in the training 
of children. It can legitimately be regarded, however, only as 



442 



SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 



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BUSINESS MANAGEMENT 443 

a subordinate part of the whole system; necessary, it is true, 
but subordinate nevertheless. Schools are established for the 
teaching of children. To administer schools, buildings must be 
built and equipped (hence we must have the school architect) ; 
buildings must be heated, ventilated and cleaned (hence the jani- 
torial staff) ; buildings must be repaired and kept in good condi- 
tion (thus the permanent repair gang) ; pupils must be provided 
with utensils and materials to work with (hence the supplies 
department) ; administrative officers, teachers, janitors, other 
employees, and all outside creditors must be paid (therefore the 
financial, bookkeeping and auditing department) ; the people, the 
Board of Education and administrative officers want to know 
how much education costs (so we have a cost accounting de- 
partment). These are all very necessary business functions that 
have grown up in the administration of public schools. 

It is believed by the Survey Staff that a dual organization 
in Grand Rapids does not contribute to the greatest school effi- 
ciency. That there was need of relating the work of the educa- 
tional and business departments the Board itself has recognized 
in the way in which it has organized itself. It has attempted 
to relate the work of the two departments by making the chair- 
man of each committee an ex-officio member of the other. This, 
of course, merely functions as a final review or check on the work 
of the two departments. 

There are several particular reasons for advocating a unit 
system of school administration in Grand Rapids. 

1. The historical development of the system itself, during 
the past four years is indicative of the need for a more unified 
form of organization. The system has grown rapidly in size, 
teaching staff, types of educational work offered by schools, 
types of organization, etc. It has already been shown that the 
city is developing a new type of intermediate organization. At 
the same time, the business phases of school administration have 
broadened out rapidly, new departments have been added and 
centralization of operation taken place. On a purely commercial 
basis the business department has operated efficiently. There 
is little evidence, however, that there is complete co-operation 
between the educational and business departments in this ex- 
pansion of school activities. It is felt that large educational 
experiments have been undertaken without complete studies of 
cost contributed by the business department, e. g., the junior 
high school reorganization, development of special schools, etc. 

2. The accounting methods of a school system should be 
organized primarily on the principle that they must contribute 
specific knowledge on particular phases of educational work. 



444 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND R^VPIDS, MICHIGAN 

A statement of receipts and disbursements is not sufficient. It is 
shown in a later section that the funds and accounts are not so 
organized as to result in a desired statement of educational ser- 
vice rendered. It is true that a few types of educational cost are 
figured, but many very pertinent types of cost data are missing. 
This will necessarily hamper an educational administrative offi- 
cer who wishes to construct school policies and make definite 
recommendations on the basis of such. 

3. The preparation of a school budget to be put before the 
Board of Education for approval should be the work of two 
departments brought together under one reviewing agency, able 
to judge of relative values from an educational standpoint. It is 
felt that the present type of organization makes this impossible. 
It seems clear to the Survey Staff that there is no single major 
officer in the business department intimately acquainted with 
school problems or principles of school administration. It may 
be questioned whether the school system is not being adminis- 
tered educationally by one officer on educational principles and 
from the business standpoint by another officer on business 
principles. A single major educational officer will supply the 
necessary "educational" insight to use the business organiza- 
tion in the improvement of school practice. ' (It is very true 
that the business department has worked out a thorough budget- 
ary procedure which is to be'commended on business principles.) 

4. It has been shown elsewhere in this report that the 
Board has given a very large amount of attention to the physical 
and business aspects of the school system during the past few 
years. In this it has tended to spend slightly more for business 
purpoes than it has for educational purposes. It is believed that 
this is contributed to by the existence of a dual form of organiza- 
tion. Under the unit form of educational control if there is a 
tendency to emphasize business expenditures, it will be done 
with knowledge of the fact that in making the recommendations 
in the budget, complete account has been taken of the educa- 
tional needs of the system. 

5. The present school report of the Board of Education is 
a dual report. One is impressed with the fact that certain costs, 
computed in great detail, are reported each year by the Business 
Manager with no educational use being made of them. It will 
be shown later that the detailed computation of the costs of 
heating buildings has not been used definitely in the improve- 
ment of heating school buildings. 

6. The bureau of census and statistics, although primarily 
dealings with "educational" facts has been placed in the Business 
Manager's organization. It will be shown later in this report 



BUSINESS MANAGEMENT 445 

that this has led to repetition of the work of the department of 
attendance and to studies of educational research being under- 
taken of which no application was made to improving school 
conditions. The Survey Staff is convinced that although the two 
departments (census and statistics, and attendance) are naturally 
one, there is no co-operation between them. It can be traced 
immediately to the fact that their superior officers are under 
separate heads of the organization. The problem of re-organi- 
zation is taken up later in another chapter. 

We shall now discuss the work of the business organization, 
dealing with the various departments separately. In addition 
to what has been said above it should be stated that the rules 
of the Board give the Business Manager complete supervision of 
the operation and maintenance and construction of the plant ; 
of the purchase, storage and distribution of supplies ; of the tak- 
ing of the census and of the manipulation of various school 
records ; of the bookkeeping and financial accounting of the 
Board. Within this department there is started the beginnings 
of a sound centralization of administration. 

I. MANAGEMENT OF THE SCHOOL PLANT 

A. General Organization. The Superintendent of Buildings 

and Grounds 

Diagram XCIV shows the general organization of the man- 
agement of the school plant. The business manager is made 
immediately responsible for the management of the school plant, 
and he is assisted by a superintendent of buildings and grounds. 
This officer came into the administrative organization under the 
rules of the Board of Education adopted in 1907. At that time 
under the title Foreman of Building and Grounds, this person 
was immediately in control of the heating, ventilating and gene- 
ral operating of buildings. His powers were, however, quite 
largely submerged in those of the Business Manager. In fact, 
the rules of the Board specifically made the Business Manager 
immediately responsible for all the duties the foreman was ex- 
pected to attend to. In 1913 the rules were revised, and the 
position of superintendent of buildings and grounds was created. 
It is pertinent to note, however, that the superintendent was 
created as an assistant of the Business Manager. (See Revised 
Rules of Board of Education, Articles 48 and 49). The Business 
Manager is made immediately responsible for all the regular 
duties of a foreman or superintendent of buildings and grounds. 
For example, he has charge of maintenance of buildings, repairs, 
alterations, etc.: has "direct supervision of the heating and 



446 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

ventilating- apparatus," etc., "shall also supervise and direct jani- 
tors in all matters pertaining to the care and maintenance of 
buildings and grounds ; inspect and investigate the work of each 
janitor as frequently as possible," etc. ; have power to remove 
janitors, etc. The rules make the Superintendent of Buildings 
the inspectorial assistant of the Business Manager. The Board 
very properly permits the Business Manager to recommend the 
appointment of the Superintendent of Buildings. The latter, 
however, is not given specific power, except as it is delegated by 
the Business Manager, to carry out the principal functions of his 
office. For example, the selection of the janitors and engineers 
on this staff are made, according to the rules, by the Business 
Manager. In the actual conduct of the department, it has been 
true, of course, that the Business Manager and the Superintend- 
ent of Buildings have consulted on such matters and worked to- 
gether in carrying out the duties of the office. There is evi- 
dently, however, (as will be made clearer later) that the oper- 
ating force, being selected and recommended by the Business 
Manager, in a great many cases are reporting immediately to 
him and not to their proper superior officer. 

The Function of a Superintendent of Buildings and Grounds 

Proper principles of business management would suggest a 
more thoroughly co-ordinated department in charge of the man- 
agement of the school plant. The position of Superintendent of 
Buildings and Grounds of a large school system like that of 
Grand Rapids should be a major executive position. This officer 
at the present time has charge of two large departments: (1) 
the operation of school buildings and grounds, ( the janitorial 
force) ; (2) the maintenance of buildings and grounds (the re- 
pair force). This entire force at the present time totals nearly 
ninety persons. He should, it is true, report to and be under the 
immediate jurisdiction of the Business Manager. He should, 
however, be made independent within his own department. This 
means especially that he should select all the persons on his 
operating and maintenance staff and that they should report to 
him on all matters connected with his department. Careful study 
of the present administration has convinced the Survey Staff 
that there is a tendency among the members of the operating 
force to report directly to the Business Manager's office on all 
sorts of matters. This is probably enhanced by constant use of 
janitors as messengers to do errands between the Board of 
Education office and the various schools. (This matter is dis- 
cussed more fully later). It seems very clear that to put the 
operating and maintenance of the public schools on a thoroughly 



BUSINESS MANAGEMENT 447 

business basis will demand a more completely worked out divi- 
sion of authority. The efficient working of the staff demands 
centralization of authority in the hands of the Superintendent and 
the more complete establishment of his prestige in the minds of 
his men. 

The position of Superintendent of Buildings and Grounds in 
Grand Rapids should be regarded as a major professional posi- 
tion. To impartial outside observers it is evident that the posi- 
tion has tended to become a minor routine position. A list of the 
actual activities of the present superintendent are impressive in 
this respect. They may be classified as follows: 

1. Innumerable and unclassifiable calls at the superintend- 
ent's home for assistance, information, request for supplies to be 
made, for equipment, etc. Minor matters of the slightest moment 
occupy his attention. 

2. Office work at his office in the morning from eight to 
ten o'clock. This office work is hardly of an executive or inspect- 
orial nature, but is largely made up of clerical duties. For ex- 
ample, he takes over the telephone, personally, thirty to fifty 
calls each morning and writes, by hand, work orders for repairs, 
orders for supplies, equipment, etc. 

3. Checks over finished work orders with particular refer- 
ence to cost, labor, etc. 

4. Requests prices on lumber and other materials ; confers 
on bids, and prices ; orders materials, etc. The superintendent is 
given power to order any material up to $25.00. Beyond that he 
secures the approval of the Business Manager. 

5. Inspects playgrounds and fields. On occasions has had 
to personally supervise the cinder surfacing and rolling of ath- 
letic field. Looks after grading, seeding, sodding of lawns, etc. 

6. Makes annual inspection of all buildings and grounds 
during February and March for an estimate of summer repairs. 

7. Personaly looks after regulation, repairs to and handling 
of program bell systems in buildings. 

8. Spends considerable time in detailed inspection of en- 
gineering plant; personally designs various parts of engineering 
equipment. 

9. Superintends installation of electric lights, call bells, 
fire gongs, etc. 

10. Has immediate charge of building of equipment, furni- 
ture, etc. 

11. Designs and installs playground apparatus. 

12. Purchases various supplies for power plant, for repairs 
and new equipment. 



448 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

13. Goes to buildings as requested by janitors and princi- 
pals for inspection and advice on special matters. 

The above items form but a partial list of the duties of this 
executive officer. It is complete enough, however, to give an 
adequate idea of the multiplicity of routine duties that he is 
forced to attend to. The Board of Education evidently planned 
that he should be primarily an inspecting assistant to the Busi- 
ness Manager. (Article 49 (a) of Rules). That he is not able 
to attend to these inspectorial duties is very evident. Interviews 
with the janitors and principals in over twenty buildings indicate 
that little or no inspection of buildings is done. The rules state 
that the Superintendent shall inspect each building twice a 
month. The Superintendent has not inspected the janitors in 
many of the buildings for several months. It is an open ques- 
tion whether such a rule is proper, whether such frequent in- 
spection as twice a month is necessary. It is evident, however, 
that a superintendent of buildings who has become largely a 
clerical assistant cannot find the time to do it. 

Somewhere in the administration of the school plant it 
sLould be possible to find a cost department. Its proper place 
is immediately under the superintendent of buildings and 
grounds. Due to the misconception of the proper function of 
this officer, no adequate system of cost records has been estab- 
lished. Although this matter will be discussed in more detail 
later, it is mentioned here in connection with the functions of 
the superintendent. 

Summary of Recommendation on the Management of the 

School Plant 

To sum up, then : 

1. There should be one chief executive immediately over 
the operation and maintenance of plants, reporting to the Busi- 
ness Manager. 

2. He should be made independent within his own depart- 
ment, selecting for appointment and recommending for pro- 
motion the men under him. 

3. He should be supplied with adequate assistance to re- 
lieve him of much routine work that he is now handling per- 
sonally. (A specific suggestion along this line is made in con- 
nection with the repair force.) 

4. His position should be made a major professional posi- 
tion, executive and inspectorial in nature. 

5. There should be developed an adequate system of cost 
records, worked out and classified in such a manner as to con- 



BUSINESS MANAGEMENT 449 

tribute to business efficiency and to a specific statement of 
operating and maintenance costs. 

B. The Operation of Buildings : The Janitorial Force 

The school buildings of Grand Rapids are being operated by 
a relatively stable janitorial force. Out of twenty-two janitors 
visited, none had been in the system less than three years, and 
many had served seven years or more. An attempt was made to 
secure from the records of the Business Manager and Superin- 
tendent detailed information on the tenure, previous training and 
experience of janitors. It should be emphasized that no such 
complete records are available. The only record on hand is a 
file of application cards for positions in the service. These cards 
ar^ seldom really used in determining the selection of new men, 
and are of no assistance in determining promotion. It seems 
clear that a complete system of records concerning the janitorial 
and repair force should be installed. 

The force being relatively stable, few new appointments 
are made in any one year. When these are made, however, no 
service records are at hand to aid the Superintendent and Busi- 
ness Manager in their selection. This is perhaps not of so much 
moment in the selection of new men as it is in the promotion 
of old ones. In the latter case unrecorded impressions of the 
men, supported only by the personal judgment of the principals 
over them, control the promotion to larger and better buildings. 
There is some evidence of a feeling on the part of janitors that 
the methods of promotion ought to be more impersonal and based 
on actual record and service. This is not possible unless the 
records of service are recorded. This in turn calls for more fre- 
quent inspection of buildings and more constant check on the 
work of the staff. 

When new men are employed, proper care is taken in in- 
troducing them to the janitorial work and the work of running 
the heating and ventilating plants. New men are first placed on 
the staff of one of the high schools as caretakers and are given an 
opportunity to fire under supervision before being put in sole 
charge of even a low pressure boiler. The precaution of the 
business department in this matter is to be commended. In the 
newer buildings having elaborate mechanical equipment, fan sys- 
tems of ventilating, etc., specially trained men were brought in 
to instruct the regular janitors promoted to the buildings. It is 
of interest to note that very many of the janitors have had boiler 
and firing experience prior to joining the operating staff of the 
school system. The staff in charge of the engineering plants in 



450 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

the high schools are recruited from men who have had boiler 
and engine experience of some sort. 

Inspection of twenty-two buildings leads to the conclusion 
that the routine work of cleaning most of the buildings is being 
well done. The rooms are swept once a day, vacuum cleaners 
being installed in several of the buildings. From the standpoint 
of sanitation the use of cleaners can be justified. Figures ob- 
tained from one of the janitors who had kept a record of time 
required to clean buildings with and without vacuum cleaners, 
showed a reduction of time in favor of the cleaner of more than 
twenty-five per cent. The floors in a majority of the buildings 
have been oiled. The oiling is done twice a year generally and 
in case of some buildings is being carefully supervised. In 
others it is causing complaint from principals. Windows are 
washed between two and three times a year in most buildings of 
the system. 

Janitors' Salaries 

The buildings of the Grand Rapids school system are of all 
ages and sizes. The typical size is from eight to twelve rooms. 
There are but few elementary buildings larger than twelve rooms, 
however, and but few smaller than eight. In the assigning- of 
janitors to different buildings, assignment to the larger build- 
ings is regarded as promotion. This is due to the method of pay- 
ing janitors. They are paid on a basis of a .minimum number 
of rooms, $13.50 a week for eight rooms with an additional 50 
cents a week for each additional room cared for. Extra pay at 
the rate of 25 cents a classroom/used is given for evening school 
and extra pay is given for social centers and branch libraries. 
These extra items enable the janitors in some schools to earn 
much more than the teachers in the buildings. 

The problem of how best to pay janitors is a mooted one, 
and a very difficult one to solve. The scheme used in Grand 
Rapids does not equitably distribute salary in terms of service 
rendered. It takes no account of the actual floor space (in 
rooms) to be cleaned, of window space to be washed, of halls to 
be cleaned (which are not included in the schedule and which in 
the older buildings form a very considerable part of the entire 
floor space of the building), of the lawns to be cut (which are 
of very uneven size throughout the city and vary widely in dift'i- 
culty of cutting), of sidewalks to be cleaned (which vary widely 
in area), of the age and condition of the building, floors, and heat- 
ing plant in the building. (These vary widely and always react 
to the disadvantage of the janitor in the old building). 

It is doubtless true that all of the above factors, which en- 



BUSINESS MANAGEMENT 451 

ter into the efficiency of janitorial service, cannot be adeqnately 
taken account of in a salary schedule. It is believed, however, 
that all but those factors having to do with the age and condi- 
tion of building and equipment and type of grounds can be 
thoroughly evaluated in a schedule. Salaries could well be paid 
in terms of area of floors cleaned (rooms and halls), windows 
cleaned, lawns cut and sidewalks kept in order; heating could 
be paid for in terms of type of plant janitor is required to handle 
and, either cubic feet heated or number of rooms, taken as. a 
standard. Buildings could be classified and differentiated in the 
salary scale, operating in terms of type of heating and ventilating 
equipment and in terms of age and condition of buildings. 

It is evident that the business department should make a 
detailed study of this problem, finding out what is done in other 
cities of its class and effecting a thorough change in the manner 
of paying janitors. Several cities now have the sort of standardi- 
zation worked out which is outlined above and correspondence 
indicates that such a method can be administered satisfactorily. 
We append with this report an abstract of the methods employed 
in Salt Lake City, Utah, and Albany, New York, as illustrative 
of how other cities are attempting to standardize their building 
maintenance. 

We give herewith the approximate salary paid per 
month to janitors in nine cities, worked out on an eight-room 
basis. This enables us to compare the salaries paid in Grand 
Rapids with those in eight other cities. These data have 
been secured by correspondence with the cities in question, and 
although not absolutely comparable with those in Grand Rapids, 
have been reduced to roughly the same basis. In some cases (as 
in Scranton) the payroll was sent, in which case the median 
salary paid was computed. Table CVIII gives the complete 
data on this question. It can be seen that there is no agreed- 
upon standard in the payment of janitors. Our tabulations show. 
that, in terms of service, Grand Rapids pays a lower salary to 
janitors than all but two cities in the list. At the same time, it 
is recognized that in absolute amount paid, some of the janitors 

TABLE CIX 

Approximate Monthly Salary paid to Janitors; computed on an 8- 
room basis. 

Lowell : $80.00 

Paterson 70.83 to 79.17 

Kansas City _ 62.00 

Scranton 60. 00 (median) 

Albany -..- 60.00 

Bridgeport 58.33 

Grand Rapids 54.00 

Nashville 40.00 

Richmond : 32.00 



in the system may receive a much higher salary than that here 
indicated. In many of the other cities this would be true also, 
however, and it is believed that the data indicate roughly the 
position of the cities. These facts reinforce the view expressed 
above that there should be a complete revision of the methods 
of assigning buildings and paying janitors. 



M 



TABLE CVIII 
Data on Janitors' Salaries for Elementary Schools in 9 Cities.* 



CITIES 


Basis 


Salaries 


Number of 




Minimum 


Maximum 


1 


2 


3 


4 


Lowell 




$840 


$960 










Paterson 


No standard unit 


Janitors 

$850 
Assistant 

$700 
Engineer 

$900 


$950 

$850 
$1000 










Kansas City 


12 for first 4 
rooms per room 
per month. Addi- 
tional rooms $3.50 
a month each. 






$12.00 


$24.00 


$36.00 


$48.00 


Scranton 


No standard unit. 


$10 per 
month 


$125 per 
month 










Albany 


$66 per room 
(class, gymna- 
sium, manual 
training — any 
room that is re- 
gularly maintain- 
ed.) 


$60 


$125 










Bridgeport 


$50 per room per 
annum. 


$50 per 
year 


$700 per 
year 


$50.00 
( 


$100.00 

per annu 
na 


$300.00 

tn with f 
.es) 


$400.00 
ur- 


Grand Rapids 


$13.50 per week 
for 8 rooms. $.50 
a week extra per 
additional room. 








Nashville 


About $5 per 
room per month. 








Richmond 


$5 per room per 
month. 






Rooms less than 10 rooms $5 

for each per month (year 

12 months.) 



Data compiled from correspondence, reports, etc. 



BUSINESS MANAGEMENT 



453 



Repairs made by Janitors. At least four months of the 
school year a janitor has to pay relatively slight attention to the 
heating plant in his building. This and other causes have re- 
sulted in the janitors of the Grand Rapids school system making 
many minor repairs to buildings. These include repairing seats 
and desks, locks of doors, adjusting loose shelves, putting in v^in- 



Rooms 














Approximate 
Average Sal- 
ary Paid Per 
Month on an 
8-room Basis. 


Remarks 


5 


6 


7 


8 


8 12 1 10-16 
^■12 Ijrmore 


Assem- 
bly 
Halls 
















$80.00 
























$70.83 

to 

79.17 


■ 


$51.50 


$55.00 


$58.50 


$62.00 








62.00 

60.00 
median 

60.00 


$1.75 per toilet room. 
$1.00 for care of uniform. 

Median worked from 
payroll. 


$550.00 


$600.00 


$650.00 


$700.00 


Added 

$50 per 

room 


Added 
$25 per 
room 

$2 per 
month 


Equal 
to 2 
rooms 
at $25 
each 

$6 per 
month 


58.33 

54.00 

40.00 
32.00 


High-school hall consid- 
ered equal to 4 rooms at 
$25 each; High School 
rooms used for two ses- 
sions $5 per room an- 
nually. 

For 8-room buildings 
varies from $35 to $40 
per month. 

Principal and teachers' 
rooms $3 each; kinder- 
garten $7.50; manual 
training $3 ; fireman $55 
per month ; scrubwomen 
$25 per month. 



454 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

dow glass, etc. Those who are trained to do so make the minor 
steam-fitting repairs. In this, the business department is ad- 
ministering its work efficiently. It is expensive to call a shop- 
man to make minor repairs which the janitor is able to make. 
The survey staff feels that this aspect of the buildings manage- 
ment is taking care of itself. 

Janitors and Principals do not approve or oversee repair 
work done in the building. When repairs are needed in the 
building, the usual procedure is for the principal or janitor to 
call up the repair shop and request the work to be done. The 
authority and responsibility here is divided; neither principal or 
janitor is made definitely responsible for ordering and approving 
the repairs. These repair orders are not generally followed up 
by written requisition as planned by the Business Manager. The 
same lack of responsibility is true in connection with the check- 
ing of the work done by the repair force, and the time spent on 
the job by the workmen. It could not be established that work- 
men report to the repair oft'ice on arriving at or leaving jobs. 
In this, from a few concrete instances, it is believed there is op- 
portunity for soldiering on the job which has been taken advan- 
tage of in some cases. 

Repairs by outside firms. Repairs to be made by outside 
firms are ordered in the same way, through the Superintendent's 
office. He in turn orders the work to be done by written 
requisition. It is quite common for estimates to be obtained 
from the outside companies although mau}^ times this is not 
done. No check is obtained on the amount of time spent 
on the job by the contractor's workmen. In most cases thorough 
inspection of the completed job is not given. Neither the jani- 
tors nor principals hold themselves responsible for this sort of 
thing. AVhen the bills come in, according to statement of prin- 
cipals, they are sometimes approved over the telephone and 
sometimes the bill itself is sent to them for approval. The 
Superintendent has given one instance in which an outside re- 
pair, billed at $14.00, was reduced to $8.00 on the matter being- 
checked up by him. Such instances point to the need of in- 
spection of outside repair jobs. 

Use of Janitors on Summer Repair Gangs. About five to 
seven weeks of the summer time of the janitors is put in on vari- 
ous permanent repair gangs. After selecting a few of the older 
men to care for the lawns and smaller repairs in the buildings, the 
balance are divided up into gangs of from three to nine men, 
carpenters, painters, steam fitters and plumbers, cement crew, 
varnish crew, etc. This practice on the whole may be com- 
mended as an economical means of getting the annual repair 



BUSINESS MANAGEMENT 455 

work done. The Superintendent of Buildings should make a very 
careful study of the annual repair problem each year and build 
up a complete system of records, both of service of men, cost of 
labor, materials, etc., on jobs. The annual repair cost is a very 
considerable item. It should be studied critically from year to 
year. There are indications that the Superintendent has been 
undertaking this sort of procedure, but it is believed that fTom 
the cost standpoint it needs to be more thoroughly worked out. 

The handling of janitor's supplies has been taken over by the 
regular supply department of the school system. Methods of 
ordering by regular requisition have been put in and a system of 
office checking established. The janitors order their supplies 
for the next year in the spring on a thoroughly worked out, 
printed requisition. The purchase and distribution of janitors' 
supplies have been well standardized. Beyond this there is little 
check on the amount of supplies used, the condition of janitors' 
equipment, etc. Several buildings visited were found to con- 
tain a large collection of material. For example, in one building, 
eight large floor brushes were counted in the janitor's room, with 
pails and other janitorial equipment to match. As Avill be indi- 
cated in the discussion on the handling of supplies, there is a 
need for oversight of the handling of supplies in the buildings. 
It is felt that there may be considerable w^aste at this point in 
the school management. 

There is little regular inspection of janitorial service in 
buildings. As noted above, it is impossible for the Superintend- 
ent of Buildings to make the semi-monthly inspection required by 
the Board's rules. The condition of the janitors' premises in 
most of the buildings was found to be good by the visiting mem- 
ber of the Survey Staff. ■ The condition of some, however, was 
not up to standard. Methods of storing wood and coal and 
cleanliness of boiler rooms should be looked after in some cases. 
Janitors report that there is no attempt made to acquaint them 
with the cost of heating their building as compared with other 
buildings in the city. The business department figures the cost 
per room of heating each building each year. These figures are 
available for the past ten years, and supply some valuable data 
on heating costs. No evidence could be discovered that any use 
was made of these figures. Janitors and engineers are not 
checked up in their use of coal, and inspection of the heating 
equipment of buildings has not followed the computation of 
the costs. 

There is a great dioersit^ in the heating costs of buildings 
of the same type and size. Of the twelve-room buildings in the 



456 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

city which do noi have fan systems of ventilation, the costs for 
Jutl per classroom in 1914-15 were as follows: 

$41.12 
39.93 
37.19 
35.68 
35.48 
34.14 
26.17 

There are other more striking instances of diversity in cost 
of heating- buildings. To heat the Oakdale school during the 
past three years, it has cost as follows : $41.90, $54.26, $53.00, an 
increase of nearly $13.00 per classroom in one year. At the same 
time, there was no increase in the heating costs of half the build- 
ings in the city. The figures for the Stocking school were: 

1912-13 , $36.62 

1913-14 51.82 

1914-15 37.93 

Six Other buildings in the city showed an increase or de- 
crease in heating cost of at least $10.00 per classroom. Other 
striking cases of irregularities in costs could be enumerated from 
the Business Manager's Report. 

We believe it should be stressed that the computation of 
these cost data should be definitely followed up in the different 
buildings. Buildings of the same size and approximately the 
same type should not show such a diversity in heating costs. 
The same building should not show an increase of $10.00 per year 
per classroom when others show decreases under seemingly like 
conditions. It may be that most of the differences could be ex- 
plained by those in charge of the buildings. It has been definitely 
stated, though, by over twenty janitors that no such explanation 
is demanded of them and no attempt made to apply the cost 
data. 

The business department has developed a system of check- 
ing the cost of water, light and gas. Monthly statements are 
sent each building, comparing the cost of the three items in the 
current year with those of the previous year. This is to be 
commended as a step in reducing waste in such materials. Visits 
to the buildings have convinced the Survey Staff, however, that 
some of the janitors do not guard against the waste of water, 
light and gas. In several buildings the janitors do not shut off 
the water after school hours. This means a large loss in water 
rates. Other buildings were found in which conscientious care 
is taken of such matters, water being turned off between classes 
at noon and between the close of school and the opening of the 
evening classes. The writer of this report went into several 
elementary schools, on bright days, in which large electric lights 



BUSINESS MANAGEMENT 457 

were burning in well-lighted halls. . On the whole it is felt that 
the great need of this iDranch of the business department is thor- 
ough inspection. 

C. The Maintenance of the Buildings: The Repair Force. 

The second largest division of the business department is the 
repair department. During the last ten years the business or- 
ganization has developed a permanent repair force. Prior to 1910 
it was a small force hired primarily to attend to miscellaneous 
small repairs. It was a separate department reporting through 
its foreman directly to the Business Manager. In 1912-13 the 
general school plant was administered by a Superintendent of 
Buildings and Grounds (to whom the repair force was made re- 
sponsible) and a chief engineer over the engineering equipment. 
In 1913-14 a further centralization was effected, bringing all 
phases of the management of the school plant together under the 
Superintendent of Buildings and Grounds. 

In the meantime the repair force and its payroll increased as 
shown below: 

TABLE CX 
Payroll of Repair Force.* 

1910-11 1911-12 1912-13 

Total Payroll $5,713.36 $8,576.79 $7,472.79 

Force consisted of foreman, 1 carpenter, 1 painter, 1 steam fitter for above years. 

1913-14 1914-15 1915-16 

Total Payroll $7,910.67 $9,915.84 $12,475.00 

In 1913-14 force consisted of superintendent (one-half time), 1 carpenter, 1 painter, 
1 steam fitter, 1 helper, 1 shop man, 1 general man. 

In 1914-15 added 1 carpenter and 1 painter. 

In 1915-16 force consists of superintendent (one-half time), 1 clerk, 1 janitor, 2 
carpenters, 1 steam fitter and helper, 1 painter and 3 shop men. 

* Data supplied by Assistant to Business Manager. 

Thus the force has grown in six years from a minor force of 
a foreman and three men to a force of a foreman and nine men, 
in addition to receiving a fair proportion of the time of the Sup- 
erintendent of Buildings and Grounds. 

It should be stated that one reason for the large growth 
of this force is the establishment of a policy of building school 
furniture, equipment and apparatus. During the year and a half 
following July 1st, 1914, the repair force built furniture and equip- 
ment to the value of $6,577. The Superintendent of Buildings and 
the School Architect made a comparison of the actual cost of 
building with the cost as shown by bids and list prices of outside 
firms. They estimate a saving in this connection of twenty 
per cent or $1,644. It is impossible to check completely the ac- 
curacy of this estimate of costs under the two methods of ob- 



458 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

taining furniture, but it is believed that a saving to the schools 
has resulted. If the policy is to be continued definitely, there 
should be a very accurate comparative study of the cost of con- 
structing various types of furniture and equipment. This 
vs^ould put the buying and construction of school furniture on a 
sound cost basis. 

The procedure in ordering repairs has been referred to above. 
It v\^as said that orders are quite generally telephoned into the 
repair office where they are w^ritten down on a work ofder blank. 
This work order blank could well be redesigned wnth a view to 
more detailed listing of special items of repairs, cost statements 
of labor and materials, etc. A duplicate of this work order goes 
to the business manager who files it in his desk. It was found 
that the superintendent's work order file is not complete, even 
for the past two years. No adequate system of recording and fil- 
ing repairs-jobs-facts is to be found in this office. For example, 
the attempt to get a detailed statement of the time that elapsed 
between the ordering of a repair and the completion of it was 
unsuccessful due to the fact that a record is not made immediate- 
ly at the completion of the job itself. Furthermore, there is no 
written confirmation of a telephone request for repairs. This 
could easily result in repairs not being made for some time after 
the time requested. Examination of the work order file showed 
that it w^as common for ten to twenty days to elapse between the 
date of order of the repair and the completion. If it is the fault 
of the method of handling repairs, that should be improved. 
Emergency repairs to heating equipment, plumbing and steam 
fitting, etc., are evidently attended to promptly. The force in- 
cludes a plumber and steam fitter, and a fair division of skilled 
labor is represented in its make-up. 

Work orders are generally not investigated unless the job is 
unusual and something that cannot be adequately estimated and 
described over the telephone by the janitor or principal. On 
many small jobs this is of course not essential. On others it is 
very essential that a preliminary investigation be made prior to 
the workmen being sent to the job. It is believed that this is 
being handled satisfactorily. 

Transportation of Workmen and Materials. 

The cost of small repair jobs is contributed to by the item of 
transportation of men and materials. The school map indicates 
clearly that the location of the repair shop is not well planned 
from the standpoint of accessibility to the school buildings of the 
city. It is located in the abandoned Second Avenue School in the 



BUSINESS MANAGEMENT 459 

first ward. Only one school in the city lies to the south of it. 
A glance at the school map makes clear its inaccessibility. No 
convenient cross-town car lines help out in the situation. Men 
are very largely transported to jobs by the car lines, and this 
necessitates a considerable expenditure of time away from the 
job. The Superintendent has an automobile on which a box has 
been placed to transport small quantities of materials. He is 
away from the office much of the time, however, and is seldom 
available to transport the men. Due to the necessity for con- 
stant movement from building to building it is clearly a wise 
expenditure to supply the Superintendent with an automobile. 

The question of transporting general supplies and materials 
for the repair has been discussed for some time by the business 
department. A plan. is under consideration of providing a light 
auto truck for the use of both the supply department and repair 
force. With the delivery of regular supplies organized as it is 
now, we believe this will be a wise expenditure. More will be 
said of this matter later in discussing the handling of supplies. 

Job Costs on Repairs. 

Somewhat recently the Superintendent's department has 
started a system of keeping job costs on repairs. To date, this 
has consisted of an estimate of the cost for labor and material, 
written on the back of the work order and filed by buildings. 
If at any time a special type of job comes up upon which cost 
data should be wanted, the discovery of this cost material is 
difficult. As noted in the discussion of the operating force, what 
the building department needs more than anything else is an ade- 
quate method of inspection and a complete system of records, 
both on the personnel and cost of the service. Following the 
installation of such a record system, it needs the appointment of 
a competent officer to keep it up. 

At the present time the Superintendent of Buildings has no 
regular assistant. He has a clerk, paid $6.00 a week, and a boy 
acting as janitor and general helper at $6.50 a week. The former 
position should be merged into a larger position for at the present 
time there is not enough purely routine work to keep such a 
clerk busy. It is believed that some combination of positions can 
be made in the stafif of the Business Manager which will result' 
in more efficient assistantship to the building executive. It is 
believed that the size of the school system and the larger expen- 
diture for operation and maintenance of buildings and grounds 
justifies the creation of a cost accountant somewhere in the 
business management. With the many excellent features of the 



460 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

business administration of the Grand Rapids' schools, one aspect 
might well be supplemented : its cost accounting. Especially is 
this true of the operating and maintenance departments. The 
immediate officers of the system are the best ones to decide at 
what point in the organization to work out changes in the present 
scheme. That it is needed in the buildings department is evident. 
The suggestion is therefore made that any change effected in the 
whole organization take thorough account for the needs of new 
records and an adequate cost system in connection with the 
Superintendent's office. 

Monthly Statements to the Board. 

Recently the Superintendent of Buildings has begun the mak- 
ing of monthly itemized reports to the Board on repairs done 
and furniture built. In each case the statement shows the cost of 
labor and materials on specific jobs, listed by buildings. In the 
same report the outside repairs for the month are stated. This 
method of reporting is to be commended. The rules of the Board 
require, however, a report on the general condition of school 
buildings. This is not being made in the detailed form that is 
needed. The Business Manager has recently made a complete, 
annual inventory of school property. This, however, is not aimed 
at being a thorough inspection of buildings from the structural 
standpoint. 

The budgetary procedure is such that funds for making re- 
pairs are always on hand. The making of necessary repairs is not 
hampered by lack of funds for these purposes. 

Outside Repairs. 

The repairs made by outside companies form a comparatively 
small portion of the total repairs made. They consist largely 
of electrical, steamfitting and plumbing work that cannot be 
handled by the regular repair force. These repairs are ordered 
through the central repair shop, that is, no one is permitted to 
go directly to an outside company and order work done. As 
indicated in the discussion on janitors, there is a weakness in the 
lack of inspection of the repair work done and it is felt that some 
loss has come about. There should be some one responsible 
for approving repair work done by outside companies and check- 
ing the time spent on the job. Under the present organization 
the Superintendent of Buildings and his foreman of repairs have 
not the time to do this. The janitor could be made responsible 
for checking the time spent and some method of inspection 
should be worked out. 



BUSINESS MANAGEMENT 461 

Annual Inspection and Summer Repairs. 

The larger repairs to school buildings are made in the sum- 
mer time by repair gangs, composed of janitors working under 
the direction of men from the regular repair force. It has already 
been said that Grand Rapids is bringing itself in line with good 
business practice in this connection. The city gets the services 
of the men in this work for from five to seven weeks. The first 
step in these summer repairs comes in the preparation by the 
principals and janitors of lists of needed repairs to their build- 
ings. These lists aid the Superintendent of Buildings and the 
Foreman of Repairs in determining what repairs to estimate on. 
These two officers visit the building during February and March 
and estimate the cost of improvements and recommend those that 
seem most needed. At this time the cost of each job is estimated 
by general impression and stated in round numbers. If any- 
thing, the estimates are generally made much higher than the real 
cost of the job. Complete cost records on such jobs are not 
available. These estimates are then compiled by buildings and 
itemized by specific jobs, mimeographed and sent to the Common 
Council and Board of Estimates for consideration with the pro- 
posed budget. This method of acquainting the Common Council 
with the purpose of each item in the maintenance fund is excel- 
lent and serves to prevent wholesale cutting of the budget. 

With the approval of the budget the business organization 
determines what repairs on the list can be made. The work is 
done in the surnmer by the gangs described above. In the mean- 
time no notice is sent to buildings as to exactly what repairs will 
be made. Principals and janitors do not know until the opening 
of school sometimes whether certain repairs are to be made or 
not. The need for study of costs on these summer repairs was 
spoken of above. On the whole, the procedure of the business 
department in handling annual repairs is to be commended. 

Summary of Conclusions on the Operation and Maintenance of 

School Buildings 

1. The school buildings of Grand Rapids are being operated 
by a relatively stable janitorial force. 

2. Detailed information concerning the previous training, 
experience, tenure and efficiency of janitors is not compiled by 
the building department. A complete system of records should 
be established and kept up to date. 

3. Service records not being available, promotion is not 
sufficiently determined by actual service. 

4. The building department safeguards the children by 



462 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

training janitors in the use of heating apparatus prior to giving 
them responsible charge of school buildings. 

5. The scheme used in Grand Rapids for paying janitors 
does not distribute salary equitably in terms of service rendered. 
The present room basis of payment should be supplemented by 
a schedule w^hich will take account of age of building, type of 
heating plant, floor, window, hall, sidewalls and lawn area. In- 
quiry shows that the city pays its janitors less than the average 
for cities of its class. 

6. A considerable amount of minor repair work and summer 
repair work is done by the janitorial force. This is efficient use 
of the Board's employees. There is not a sufficiently well-work- 
ed-out scheme of inspection and supervision of repair work both 
by the Board's mechanics and by outside firms. 

7. The routine duties of the Superintendent of Buildings 
prevents systematic and thorough inspection of janitorial service. 
The appointment of an Assistant Superintendent of Buildings is 
recommended. 

8. The need for the installation of accurate cost records and 
the consistent following up of them is most evident. There are 
striking instances of diversity in unit heating costs among build- 
ings and in the same building over a series of years. 

9. The buildings department has recently initiated the poli- 
cy of building school furniture and equipment. Adequate cost 
accounting schemes should accompany this innovation. At the 
present time it is not possible to determine from sound and com- 
plete records the wisdom of continuing this policy. 

TABLE CXI 
Payment for Years 1906-1916 to Outside x\rchitects and Engineers.* 

Robinson Wernette, Smith, 

and Bradfield Hinchmen 

YEAR Campau and Mead and Gryles Totals • 

1906 809.64 284.37 1,094.01 

1907 - 2,023.38 487.85 2,511.23 

1908 - 2,439.42 572.87 3,012.29 

1909 23,380.25 2,537.77 25,918.02 

1910 - 2,099.42 2,616.01 4,715.43 

1911 1,750.71 3,397.32 5,148.03 

1912 4,058.19 336.01 123.19 4,517.39 

1913 2,325.24 2,325.24 

1914 5,959.95 2,514.17 13.50 8,487.62 

1915 737.74 1,354.87 116.65 2,209.26 

1916 155.35 155.35 

* Data supplied by Business Department. 

D. The Construction of the School Plant. 

In the chapter on the financial aspects the establishment of a 
definite policy of developing the school plant was discussed. To 



BUSINESS MANAGEMENT 463 

carry this through, the Board has gradually built up a depart- 
ment of school architecture. The large items of new construction 
undertaken in the past five years are (1) the Central High 
School ; (2) the South High School ; (3) the Lexington School ; 
(4) the Franklin School; (5) the Sheldon School. For the de- 
signing and inspection of the first two the Board has employed 
outside architects. The designing, drawing up of specifications 
and inspection in the latter three were done under the supervi- 
sion of the School Architect. The Board began its development 
of the School Architect's department by employing the present 
school architect for the designing of special school equipment. 
In the past six years he has gradually taken over all the architect- 
ural work for the Board. We give in Table CXI a statement of 
the money spent for professional services to architects and engi- 
neers since the beginning of the ten-year period of buildmg de- 
velopment. The large items in 1909, 1912 and 1914 to the local 
architects were for services in connection with the high schools. 
During the past two years no money has been spent for outside 
architectural services. In the meantime the three new element- 
ary schools were built. This work has added to the staff of the 
School Architect until now he has three draftsmen and part-time 
stenographic service. 

The writer of this report has made an inspection of the work 
of this department. He has examined the facilities for ana 
methods of getting out plans and specifications; he has studied 
the plans and specifications of the elementary schools built by 
the department ; he has made a careful examination of the type 
of work and inspection done in the building of the new Sheldon 
school ; he has collected cost records of school buildings both in 
the Grand Rapids system and outside. 

As a. result of this survey, he is prepared to commend hearti- 
ly the work of this department. It is working on a thoroughly 
. professional basis. The citizens of Grand Rapids can feel that 
their newest elementary schools compare favorably with those 
built in other cities. They are designed with regard for the best 
principles of school hygiene, sanitation and architecture. _ School 
architecture is a profession in itself. It is becoming evident in 
these days that the general practitioner in architecture is not so 
well equipped to work out the problems in this field as is the 
specialist trained in the field. We have no hesitation therefore 
in approving the type of work being done under the school 
architect's direction. 

A pertinent question arises in this connection. Granted that 
the new elementary schools are well planned and built, how does 
their cost compare with those of similar type built in other cities? 



464 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

We give in Table CXII the data on cost of fire-proof elemen- 
tary schools in Grand Rapids and four other cities of its class; 
also in five cities in the largest population class for which com- 
parative data happen to be available. The data on the former 
four cities were obtained from the business departments of each 
of the cities. We believe they are comparable with those from 
Grand Rapids. 

There are three units employed in computing schoolhouse 
costs: (1) the cost per classroom; (2) the cost per pupil ac- 
commodated; (3) the cost per cubic foot. Let us compare the 
costs of Grand Rapids with those in these nine other cities for 
each of the three units. Table CXII gives the data in detailed 
and summary form. 

Judged by the standards of construction in vogue in the cities 
of its own class, the city is paying about an average price for 
new elementary schools. If the comparison is extended to in- 
clude the buildings built in the five larger cities the unit costs are 
proportionally much smaller in Grand Rapids. The city ranks 
second and third in the list of ten cities in unit costs. The table 
gives assurance at least that the establishment of a school archi- 
tect in Grand Rapids has not meant an increase in comparative 
costs. The South High School was built recently by local archi- 
tects in the city at a cost of fourteen cents per cubic foot, almost 
exactly the same cost as in the case of the three elementary 
schools. 

The overhead cost for professional services (plans, specifica- 
tions and inspection) on these buildings is an important question. 
Criticism has been made of the large overhead cost on school 
buildings under the present scheme of organization. To deter- 
mine the status of this question the cost of professional services 
were secured on three elementary schools, and Franklin, Lex- 
ington and Sheldon, and the two high schools built by outside 
firms. Comparative data are also available from seven of the 
cities included in the table. The data secured seem to show that 
it costs slightly more to design and inspect buildings under the 
school architect's department than it does under outside archi- 
tects. The achitect's fee on the two high schools was 3.5 per 
cent. Professional service on the three elementary schools ran to 
5.46 per cent, 6.17 per cent and 10.03 per cent. Professional ser- 
vices in the five larger cities ran less than five per cent in all ex- 
cept Boston. The excessive cost in the case of the Sheldon school 
has been explained by the School Architect, by showing that a 
change in the plans of the Board of Education necessitated two 
complete sets of plans. It should be noted, of course, that much 
time actually given to the preparation of plans for fixed equip- 



BUSINESS MANAGEMENT 



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BUSINESS A'lANAGEMENT 467 

ment, making up the detailed estimates for furnishing- of new 
buildings, etc., has been prorated to the cost of these new build- 
ings. On the whole it is questionable if the actual cost has been 
any greater under the present scheme than under that which uses 
outside ai;chitects. Aside from the mere financial criterion, there 
is no doubt that the Board gets a sound return from its expen- 
diture in the way of specialized professional services. 

II The General Supply Department of the Schools. 

General Supplies. The supply department of the Grand 
Rapids school system handles an annual business of over twenty- 
five thousand dollars. To a certain degree the smoothness with 
which instruction proceeds depends on the efficiency of this de- 
partment. The successful manipulation of a business of this 
size demands a thoroughly co-ordinated organization operating 
on sound business principles. Important to the success of the 
administration of this department is the way in which its ma- 
chinery is planned to fit the instructional needs of the system. 

The business organization in Grand Rapids includes a very 
well-worked-out supply department. It is directly managed by 
the Supply Clerk, whose stafif consists of four persons, an office 
assistant, a receiving and billing clerk, a shipping or routing 
clerk and a delivery man who give a certain amount of time to 
the repair force. The Supply Clerk is selected by the Business 
Manager and reports to him for approval on practically all pro- 
cedure except routine matters. There may be a question 
whether the supply clerk should not have a little more independ- 
ence in his work. The Supply Clerk's organization appears to be 
working smoothl}^ in most places. 

The pvirchase of supplies in a big city school system needs 
to be standardized and safeguarded in the extreme. No supplies 
should be bought except through the central supply department. 
In this respect the Grand Rapids schools are in the lead. They 
are working out a safe and efiicient method of buying supplies. 
No supplies can be bought by teachers or principals. All must 
secure their materials through the central office. Furthermore 
no supplies are sent from the central storeroom except on writ- 
ten approval of the Supply Clerk or his authorized assistant. It 
is believed that this is a sound method of handling the matter. 

Supplies are bought annually on specifications which are 
being carefully worked out. Orders for all such supplies are sub- 
ject to bid. Bids are tabvilated and stock selected that best fits 
the needs of the department. This procedure throughout is to be 
commended as businesslike. The department is now working 
on the standardizing of specifications for various types of sup- 



468 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

plies. Those include all stationery and various papers; pens 
and erasers ; pencils ; ink ; art and manual training materials ; 
blackboard material; cooking, hardware, paint supplies and 
dry goods. The Survey Staff feel that the v^^ork that is being 
done in this direction is in line with sound business practice. 
There have been some complaints from a few principals of the 
poor quality of pens, paper and ink. The supply department 
has initiated special studies of the standardizing of certain of 
these materials, and it seems to be improving the way in which 
its work its adapted to the efficiency of instruction. 

Records. The supply department is developing a system 
of records that will operate shortly as a permanent inventory. 
The records are so organized as to give charges against schools, 
and the purchasing records charge by item all supplies issued 
from the department. The former records enable the Clerk to 
check the quantity of supplies sent to any building against the 
amount ordered for the year, the amount previously used, and the 
amount used by other buildings. In some cases this record has 
been used to cut down needless ordering by principals. From 
the office end of the line, economy and efficient administration of 
supplies seem to be evident. Annual per capita costs for sup- 
plies are figured by buildings by the Business Manager's statis- 
tical clerk and reported in the Annual Report of the Board of 
Education. These computations show that there is excellent uni- 
formity in the per pupil cost of supplies in the different schools 
of the city. With the exception of the special schools and the 
very smallest schools, the cost is practically constant in all build- 
ings. With the high-school costs there is close agreement be- 
tween Central and Junior High School, but a much larger cost 
at the Union School. 

The Supply Clerk maintains two offices, one at the main busi- 
ness office in the City Hall and one at the central supply room 
in the North Division school, three blocks away. At the main 
office the clerk has an office assistant who takes care of all office 
routine, posts the purchasing records, attends to the correspond- 
ence, filing, etc. Her work the past three months has consisted 
largely in bringing the records up to date. That will be ac- 
complished very soon. With the records brought up to date, 
much of the time of this assistant can be put on other matters. 
If the Supply Clerk maintained his office at the storeroom, the 
time of this clerk could well be put in doing some of the clerical 
work that now has to be done by the routing clerk or driver. It 
is difficult to see the need for the Supply Clerk's maintaining two 



BUSINESS MANAGEMENT 469 

offices, especially when he is away from his staff a major part 
of the time. 

The Storage of Supplies. All regular supplies of the Board 
are stored at the central storeroom in the basement of the North 
Division School. This is well located in a central position in the 
city and accessible from all points. The department long ago 
has outgrown its quarters, however. The Board should take 
steps to give the supply department more room. Materials are 
piled in such fashion as to mean a considerable waste of time 
and energy in handling. At the central storeroom the supply 
clerk has three assistants. During the ten weeks following July 
first, there is a rush season of inventorying, stock-receiving, and 
order-filling. During this time the department is especially 
hampered in its lack of facilities. Aside from the lack of room, 
the department seems to be caring for the supplies of the school 
system in an efficient manner. The Board has been considering 
plans for a central administration building which would include 
the supply department. It is clear that expansion of present 
quarters will be an imperative necessity soon. 

The present organization under the Supply Clerk is such that 
he is forced to take a hand in the manipulation of the stock only 
during the summer months. In thus being relieved of the routine 
clerical and manual duties of his office he is given time to improve 
ways and means for giving the schools better service. This is 
a step in the right direction. 

The Handling of Supplies in the Buildings. In this connec- 
tion, it seems evident that there ought to be more frequent in- 
spection of the handling of supplies in the buildings. At the 
present time there is none. Principals store their supplies in un- 
locked closets and in many cases both teachers and pupils have 
access to the supplies at all times. Several instances were found 
in which the supplies for the building were stored in an unlocked 
closet opening off the main hall. This is a method of procedure 
that ought to be corrected. The Supply Clerk could well spend 
some of his time putting in and keeping up a better system of 
handling supplies in the buildings. 

The Distribution of Supplies. The department has worked 
out a system of regular monthly distribution of supplies through- 
out the city. A regular schedule for each section of the system 
has been planned, and supplies delivered in accordance. Teach- 
ers and principals know exactly when to order and exactly when 
supplies will be delivered to them. For delivery, the department 
has an automobile on which a small box has been built. This 
is inadequate for the present size of deliveries. The proposition 
to get a half-ton truck for the use of both supply and repair de- 



470 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

partments would seem to be a step in the right direction. The 
only question involved is one of administering to the needs of 
both departments. During the summer months the truck is badly 
needed by the repair gangs and in the winter by the supply de- 
partment. It would seem that it might be possible to use it ef- 
ficiently in both departments. 

The supply department has worked out an efficient 
scheme of ordering and receipting for supplies. Orders are made 
in triplicate and no goods are delivered without written receipt. 
The department has been able to safeguard the handling of sup- 
plies in this way. 

Complete inspection of this department leads to the con- 
clusion that its work is being done efficiently and with consid- 
erable regard for both business and instructional conditions. 
It is believed the supply clerk in the future should spend more 
time on the latter phases of his work. The department needs 
more room and it needs to develop the inspection of the handling 
of supplies in the building. 

The Purchase and Inspection of Fuel 

The Board of Education spends nearly twenty-five thousand 
dollars a year for fuel. To heat its buildings the past year it 
used about seven thousand tons of coal. It is possible to so 
standardize the specifications, method of purchasing, inspecting 
and accepting of coal as to result in a high degree of economy. 

It is pertinent to note that there is no real inspection on 
more than half of the coal delivered. With the close of Septem- 
ber the coal inspector goes back to his position as janitor of the 
East Leonard School and the only inspection given is the formal 
receipting for delivery done by the janitor. In a tew cases it was 
found that janitors take samples of the coal delivered to their 
bins and turn these in to the Business Manager who has them 
prepared for the test made by city engineers. These samples, 
however, are not properly taken according to the descriptions of 
the janitors themselves. During the seven months October to 
April 1915-16, nearly 3,900 tons of coal were delivered, over 2,000 
tons in February and March alone. On this coal there was prac- 
tically no real inspection. 

In 1914-15 the coal received was of a very low grade. It was 
so low in fact that the coal inspector rejected sixteen carloads at 
one time. The coal annually delivered to the buildings was so 
poor as to cause great inconvenience and a very large amount of 
waste in the heating of buildings. This instance is referred to as 
an indication of what ma}^ well happen when the quality of coal 



BUSINESS MANAGEMENT 471 

delivered is not inspected. At the same time, shortage in weight 
is not being checked up. To an outside observer the situation 
seems to demand yearly inspection of coal. A table of deliveries 
by months for 1915-16 taken from the records of the business 
office show^s that the average delivery from October to April was 
500 tons. This means fairly constant hauling of coal throughout 
the winter and a need for nearly daily inspection. 

III. School Accounting in Grand Rapids. 

1. The Organization of the Staff. The accounting and cleri- 
cal work of the public schools is done under the immediate sup- 
ervision of the Business Manager. To assist him he has a regular 
bookkeeper and an assistant to the bookkeeper, an assistant to 
the secretary and a statistical clerk. The assistant to the sec- 
retary takes care of the general correspondence, drawing up of 
contracts, drawing up of bond abstracts, and the handling of 
miscellaneous duties. Much the same could be said of the book- 
keeper. A long list of the functions of these two positions reveal 
something of a lack of clear definition of duties. For example, 
the bookkeeper spends considerable time ''waiting" on the public, 
teachers and janitors, (this is the legitimate work of an assistant 
office clerk), writing teachers' contracts and collecting institute 
fees, purchasing streetcar tickets, stamps, etc., reading proof and 
checking proceedings, monthly statements, etc., making copy 
of ledger "funds" for monthly statement of funds to be printed in 
the ledger, etc., etc. Would it not be possible to define the duties 
of the four positions in this office subordinate to the Business 
Manager with a view to more unified definition and classification 
of duties? It would seem as though the bookkeeper could well 
give his time to the accounting and bookkeeping phases of the 
work, leaving many of his miscellaneous and clerical duties to an 
assistant or office clerk. 

2. The General Method of Accounting. The scheme of ac- 
counting employed in the business office may be described as a 
receipts and disbursements system. The journal and ledger 
bookkeeping is relatively simple and easy to manipulate. It 
results in specific statements of the standing of various funds at 
any time, and from the standpoint of commercial accounting it 
reports adequately all financial transactions. The moneys of 
the Board of Education are at the present time classified in 33 
principal funds (which have grown out of the original 26 funds.) 
The system was planned originally so that the funds 1 to 9 were 
primarily educational funds and the funds 10 and above were 
business funds. The scheme as it stands today is not well adapt- 
ed to the needs of the educational department. The funds can 



472 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

hardly be said to be organized so as to result in specific state- 
ments of the cost of educational service. 

Let us take an example. Fund 3 is a fund for teachers' sal- 
aries. Together with 3a it will total between $500,000 and $600,- 
000 a year. The present scheme throws together the salaries of 
all teachers, principals and supervisors. The accounting methods 
thus do not result in definite costs expressed in pertinent edu- 
cational units. The scheme is not built to result in such state- 
ments. The educational officers are interested in a financial ac- 
counting system which will enable them to evaluate the costs of 
educational service, administration, instruction, supervision, 
operation of the plant, maintenance of the plant and outlay for 
permanent improvements in terms of kinds of schools and of 
buildings. As at present organized the business department can- 
not co-operate with them in this without much "digging out" 
of detailed data. 

At the same time that fund 3 is not analyzed, fund 4 (sup- 
plies) is subdivided into 34 subordinate funds, which are re- 
ported in monthly statements of the Board co-ordinate with 
fund 3. In the same way funds 5 and 6 are divided into 17 small- 
er funds. (It is true of course, that the necessity for reporting to 
the officers in charge of those specialized funds will necessitate 
keeping them itemized in the ledger.) First, then, we would 
criticize the general organization of the funds and the method 
of analyzing them. 

Second, the general accounting is not planned in accordance 
with the best school accounting standards available, namely those 
adopted by the National Association of School Accounting Of- 
ficers and the United States Bureau of Education. These stand- 
ards have now been adopted in many cities in the United States. 
The only reason given for not adopting the standard form of 
organizing financial facts in Grand Rapids is that the latter has 
not been absolutely standardized. It should be said, however, 
that relatively little change has been made in the form since its 
adoption five years ago. Each year the Business Manager reports 
to the United States Commissioner of Education the financial 
facts concerning the Grand Rapids school system, on this same 
standard form. To do so means the expenditure of considerable 
time in reclassifying from the records the information desired. 

It appears to the Survey Stafif that in the reorganization 
of funds there should be adopted the grouping agreed upon by 
the combined associations, in terms of educational service and 
kinds of schools. This would result in a specific statement of the 
cost of administration, supervision, instruction, outlay, each in 
terms of day elementary schools, day high schools, junior college, 



BUSINESS MANAGEMENT 473 

evening schools, special schools, etc. Grand Rapids is opening 
up many special types of education. Its accounting methods 
should take cognizance of them. The proposed changes do not 
mean a wholesale revision of accounting methods. They mean 
simply a closer analysis of certain funds, 3 for example, and the 
combining of others and regrouping of all so as to give a more 
adequate educational classification of them. 

In this connection we note the present methods of differen- 
tiating elementary educational costs between the fourth and fifth 
grades, resulting in grammar school costs and primary school 
costs. It cannot be found that this has any real educational sig- 
nificance. Salary schedules take no account of such a distinction 
in the lower grades and in the housing and organization of pu- 
pils the administrative officers pay no attention to such a scheme 
of grouping. Why should the financial reporting be done in 
terms of it? 

On the other hand the system is showing a very real dif- 
ferentiation between the lower six grades, the intermediate 
seventh, eighth and ninth and the upper three grades. The city 
seems to be committing itself to a six-six organization of the 
twelve grades of the public schools. If the business department 
is to co-operate fully with the educational department, might 
not its accounting methods be differentiated on some such basis 
as this? If any reorganization of "funds" is to come, this im- 
portant factor might well be taken into consideration. It was in- 
dicated above that the city now has six different ways of admin- 
istering intermediate education. This condition will naturally 
hamper any complete readjustment of accounting on the six-six 
plan for some time to come. In the meantime, thorough ways 
and means for studying the cost situation should be worked out 
by the business department. 

Methods of Recording School Facts in Grand Rapids : The Bu- 
reau of Census and Statistics. 

The business and educational departments of the school sys- 
tem have been run for ten years as two co-ordinate departments. 
It is a fair question whether the facilities of the business depart- 
ment have been directed specifically at contributing to the opera- 
tion of the other. In the matter of the recording of school facts, 
there is quite evident a lack of unification of methods. The sup- 
erintendent of schools immediately directs a general attendance 
department which takes care of truancy work in the buildings and 
visiting work in the homes. For its efficient operation necessary 
systems of records of attendance have been developed. At the 
same time, recently there has been created a bureau of census 



474 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

and statistics. This has been placed under the direction of the 
secretary of the Board (the Business Manager in this case.) This 
scheme of organization is explained by the educational depart- 
ment on the grounds that the state law requires the secretary of 
the Board to take the census. The law states that the census 
shall be taken by "the secretary of the board of education or 
other reputable and capable person or persons employed by the 
board." There is therefore no legal requirement that the office 
of the Business Manager take the census and administer the sta- 
tistical department. The director of the bureau of the census and 
statistics has recently worked out a very excellent plan for a 
continuing census which is to be commended. The work of this 
census will contribute information that should be placed imme- 
diately at the service of the attendance department. 

It is a striking fact that an enumeration of the list of acti- 
vities directed by the bureau of census and statistics shows that 
with one exception these activities are primarily "educational" 
and not business or financial in nature, e. g., enrollment and 
attendance records of the superintendent ; the class records of 
teachers ; school extension records ; the activities of the vocation 
bureau, etc., etc. 

The work that is being done under the director of the bureau 
of census and statistics is closely similar to some of the work 
being done under the head of the attendance department. In 
fact, we have found evidence of duplication of records that should 
be eliminated. The activities of the two departments are such 
that they should be co-ordinated into one under one superior ex- 
ecutive officer. Since the outcomes of the operation of this gen- 
eral census, attendance, and statistical department are primarily 
"educational" and not "business", the department should be plac- 
ed under the immediate supervision of the superintendent of 
schools or his assistant. The city may look forward in a few 
years to the necessity of having a special assistant superintendent 
over all such activities — census, attendance, statistics and school 
research. 

There is still other pertinent evidence to show that it is dif- 
ficult to administer a school system efficiently under a dual organ- 
ization such as exists in Grand Rapids. Problems of educational 
research, such as studies of non-promotion, elimination and re- 
tardation pertain most directly to the work of instruction. For 
this reason, the head of the instructional department ought to 
have at his command all available research data. Studies of 
non-promotion in the grades recently made by the director of the 
bureau of census and statistics have been reported to the business 
manager who can make no educational or business use of them. 



BUSINESS MANAGEMENT 475 

At the same time, the results of the research have not been re- 
ported to the superintendent of schools and made available for 
the improvement of school practice. • 

Treated from various points of view, it seems quite clear 
that the present methods of recording school facts should be com- 
pletely reorganized. It is suggested that one department of cen- 
sus, attendance, statistics and research be organized, reporting 
immediately to the superintendent of schools or to the assistant 
superintendent of schools. 



CHAPTER XVI 

ADMINISTRATIVE 
ORGANIZATION 



The Board of Education of Grand Rapids faces, as does 
every other board of education in large American cities, grave 
problems of organization v^hich grow out of the complexity of 
the school system. A city of the size of Grand Rapids has a 
number of different kinds of districts. It is, of course, theoreti- 
cally desirable that each of these districts should have equal 
school facilities. This would mean that all of the buildings 
ought to be equally well equipped and equally well built. It 
would mean that the corps of teachers in each building ought to 
be of the same quality. It would mean that the course of study 
ought to be equally advanced and equally well organized. 

The superficial view of this problem is that all of the differ- 
ent districts ought to be treated, in all the respects enumerated, 
exactly alike. For example, in the matter of the course of study, 
equal facilities for the different districts will be interpreted by 
some to mean exactly the same course of study. A more careful 
consideration of the problem, however, will convince anyone 
that the needs of the different districts are in many cases 
radically different. In some districts, most of the children are 
going to high school, while in others the great majority are 
likely to enter the industries directly after leaving the elementary 
school. The Board of Education and the school officers have, 
accordingly, the very delicate problem of providing school facili- 
ties that shall be equally well arranged but not identical in kind. 

Furthermore, it is almost impossible in a city system of the 
size of Grand Rapids to keep the building equipments uniform. 
School buildings erected twenty years ago are lacking in many 
of the improvements which appear in the newer school buildings. 
It is quite impossible to discard a building because it is falling 
somewhat behind in its equipment. The best efforts must be 
made to keep the building in suitable working condition. This 



ADMINISTRATIVE ORGANIZATION 477 

means in a system with forty school buildings a necessary dif- 
ference in material equipment. 

Finally, the distribution of the teachers is not a matter over 
which the Board has instant and absolute control. The services 
of a teacher who has faithfully worked in the system for a 
number of years are in many respects much more significant to 
the schools than any contribution which can be made by a 
younger teacher. Conversely, the younger teachers are coming 
in with recent training and with an equipment in subject-matter 
and in knowledge of the science of education which many of the 
teachers of an earlier generation never had an opportunity to 
acquire. There is no such thing as a teaching staff in a large 
city which is uniform throughout in character. 

When considerations of this type are frankly faced, it will be 
recognized that the school problem in Grand Rapids is enormous- 
ly complex. This complexity will be all the more vividly real- 
ized when one looks. into the details of the administrative ma- 
chinery which are necessary in a great school system. For ex- 
ample, let one consider the work of a school superintendent. In 
a city of twenty thousand inhabitants, it is easily possible for a 
school superintendent to do a large part of the supervising of 
the schools through personal inspection. He can in the course 
of a year spend a great deal of time in each of the classrooms in 
the schools. He can become intimately acquainted with the 
administration of each building by constant personal presence in 
each building. Not only so but he can oversee most of the pur- 
chasing of supples for the system and he can keep in mind the 
supplies furnished to each building. 

By the time the population has doubled, the difficulties in 
the way of personal supervision by a single superintendent be- 
come much greater. If he is more interested in methods of 
teaching than in business matters, it is probable that he will 
relinguish first of all his relation to the routine of securing sup- 
plies. If, on the other hand, he has a taste for business, it is 
probable that he will absorb himself in matters of material 
equipment and will leave the classroom work to take care of it- 
self or at least to be supervised by the different principals. In 
either case, the disintegration of the school system will threaten 
unless some way can be discovered of mastering the complexities 
of the growing situation. 

Anyone who has had the patience to read up to this point 
the details presented in this report will realize that the general 
statements just made are supported by the actual diversities 
within the school system of Grand Rapids. These diversities 
have been kept in check by good organization, but they are 



478 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

present in impressive degree in spite of this good organization. 
Grand Rapids can not look for a solution of these problems 
in any legislation or in any form of organization which has been 
provided by the state. The fact is that state school legislation 
Has been formulated in very large measure to fit small towns and 
rural districts. There is a clear legal recognition of this fact in 
the habit exhibited by legislatures qf granting independent school 
charters to large cities. 

Grand Rapids must work out a form of organization which 
will fit its own needs. There is under the state law great 
latitude for such organization. Let us turn to several examples 
which will illustrate at once the kind of problem which faces 
the Board of Education of Grand Rapids and the type of solution 
which is to be advocated. 

The school Census Bureau furnishes an excellent illustration 
of the difficulty which the Grand Rapids Board of Education 
comes upon in defining and unifying the functions of its officers. 
Under the laws of the state of Michigan the school board is 
obliged to take a school census. The primary reason for taking 
this census is that the state supplies certain funds to the school 
system of Grand Rapids on the basis of the number of children 
in the city. The law also indicates that this work shall be done 
by the board through its secretary. In Grand Rapids the secre- 
tary of the board is the business manager of the board. The 
Bureau of Census was therefore organized as a part of the busi- 
ness office. The returns which are secured by the Bureau of 
Census would be of great value to the attendance officers and 
Avould also be of much greater value than now if connected di- 
rectly with the scholarship records which are kept by the schools 
on the cumulative card records made out for each child. Under 
the present somewhat inadequate definition of the relations be- 
tween various officers the connection between the Census Bureau 
and the instructional department is not complete or satisfactory. 
The Bureau undertakes investigations which are related primari- 
ly to instruction and the attendance department does not use the 
census results. 

Another illustration can be drawn from the experience of 
the schools in administering supplies. There is a central supply 
station which is evidently well managed. Supplies are distribu- 
ted to the school buildings where they come into the hands of 
the school principals. Some of these principals are careful and 
efficient in business methods and handle the supplies as they 
should be handled. Other principals do not handle these matters 
as they should. The question now arises as to how the princi- 
pals are to be trained in handling supplies and what system 



ADMINISTRATIVE ORGANIZATION 479 

shall be adopted to insure proper inventory and suitable economy 
from the point of view of the system as a whole. Business 
methods have grown complex in this case and the proper busi- 
ness supervision of each building in a great system comes to 
be a difficult task. The ordinary supervision of principals em- 
phasizes almost exclusively their instructional functions. Their 
conduct of business affairs is not under as strict scrutiny. Yet 
the systematic supervision of the business organization of each 
building is important because of the difference between the 
dift'erent buildings in the personnel of the staff, because of 
differences in the accommodations which exist, in the buildings 
themselves for housing supplies and because of the diff'erent 
kinds of children who make use of these supplies in the different 
districts. The setting up of a central supply office does not 
solve this problem. 

Another illustration can be borrowed from the chapters on 
tests. Again and again it has been shown in these chapters that 
the dift'erent buildings of the school system show dift'erent de- 
grees of efficiency in the different subjects of instruction. Some 
of these differences in achievement are inevitable because of the 
differences between the children who are in attendance in the 
various schools. The development of an administrative machine 
that shall distinguish between the differences that are inevitable 
and those that are due to variations in methods of teaching is a 
problem which has become acute in recent years not only in 
Grand Rapids but in every large school system in the United 
States, 

A final example may be drawn from the experience of the 
Board of Education itself. Much of the work of this Board is 
done by two committees, one of which has charge of instructional 
matters, the other of which has charge of finances. In carrying- 
on the routine of school management these two committees 
found themselves drifting apart with the danger before them of 
becoming virtually two Boards. Fortunately the danger was 
seen in time to remedy it. The expedient was adopted of having 
the chairman of one committee sit as a regular member of the 
other committee. If, as indicated by this experience, there is 
danger of decentralization within the Board, how much greater 
must be that danger when the large body of teachers, principals, 
and other school officers is involved. 

The fact that the business activities of the Board and its 
activities in considering plans of instruction are not fully co- 
ordinated appears in the annual report. This report is made 
up of two distinct and little related subdivisions. 

What can be done to meet these dift'iculties and hold to- 



480 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

gether all of the activities of the school system? The answer 
involves two seemingly contradictory principles. First, the sys- 
tem must be administered in an impersonal way. This means 
that plans for future action must be based on evidence drawn 
from a study of the needs of the schools. This means further 
that there must be a candid measurement of results. It is more 
important that the schools should face their practices in regard 
to non-promotion than that there should be condemnation or 
commendation by any individual. In short, the schools must be 
unified by the facts. The kind of unity which will grow out of a 
study of results is the only kind that will be permanent. 

The second principle which seems at first hearing to conflict 
with the foregoing statement is that the school system should 
have a single responsible head in charge of all of the activities 
of the schools. This does not mean that the single head should 
be clothed with arbitrary powers. Just because the unity of the 
school system can be secured only through a study of the facts 
about the system, this central executive must organize his office 
in such a way as to collect and interpret the facts about the sys- 
tem. He must make his plans and recommendations with a 
clear view to the first principle that the system can be unified 
only by a study of results. The single central executive is 
needed in order that the impersonal facts may be focused on 
every school problem. It is just as essential in a school system 
that there should be a single central unifying executive as it is 
essential in a great business corporation or in government. 

The argument is not for the creation of one-man control. 
The argument is not for the creation of dictatorial powers. It 
has been shown all through this report that the factors entering 
into the school system are manifold. They must all be recog- 
nized and evaluated. They must be co-ordinated and balanced. 
The Board of Education must unify and promote a great and 
complex body of interests. How can it do this? Only through 
a consideration of plans and policies which have been brought 
together from all sources by a single central officer. 

Let us make this concrete. At present the business office is 
independent of the superintendent's office. The two offices 
should be united. At present the superintendent presents plans 
and asks the Board to sanction them without, in some cases, 
giving a detailed financial plan as a basis of action. The super- 
intendent should be required by the Board to submit for every 
project which he suggests a full and workable financial plan. 
The Board should not allow even its own members to inaugurate 
plans without an investigation of all of the facts involved. In the 
location of a building or in making a change in the course of 



ADMINISTRATIVE ORGANIZATION 481 

study, the Board should first seek the facts. It should direct 
its executive, the superintendent, to bring together the facts 
which should guide action. Or take another example, if the 
Board should decide to enlarge the Junior College, it ought to 
require of its executive a full plan showing the character of the 
institution projected, the financial outlay involved and the evi- 
dences that the organization is needed and the evidence from the 
experiences of other cities that the project can be made to suc- 
ceed. If extra help is required in the superintendent's office to 
prepare such a report, the Board could well afiford to supply it. 
The reason for some of the blind experimenting that has gone 
on in school systems up to this time is that there has been no 
provision for administration planning and reporting on a large 
scale. 

The plan which has been sketched in the last paragraph is 
not, as some may object, a plan for the increase of the superin- 
tendent's power to the point where he becomes the autocrat of 
the system. It is a plan for the control of everybody. Board, 
superintendent, and teachers alike, by facts and clearly formu- 
lated policies. It is unfortunately true that school systems have 
been conducted all over this country in a vague experimental 
way. Even teachers have been in doubt as to the kinds of re- 
sults they have been achieving and the kind of plans which they 
should make. It is little wonder that business men connected 
with boards of education have tended to magnify purely financial 
considerations. The amount of money spent could be ascer- 
tained with a good deal of precision. The educational results se- 
cured have been unknown. The future of the teachino^ activities 
has seemed to Board members somewhat vague. The future on 
the financial side has, of necessity, had to be clear. The result 
is that Boards have naturally come to emphasize financial con- 
siderations and financial organizations. The time has come 
when the educational side of school work ought to be cleared up. 
TTiere can be no doubt that schools are organized for the pur- 
pose of teaching children. Schools have to spend money but 
they were not organized as financial institutions. It seems ab- 
surd to think of the spending division of the system as inde- 
pendent of the teaching division. 

Put the matter in terms of the findings of this report. Grand 
Rapids has an excellent school system. It is comparatively com- 
pact in its organization, it has introduced some most intelligent 
modifications in school organization before these have become 
common in school systems the country over, it has a well-trained 
corps of teachers, it is achieving good results. These state- 
ments are in danger of attracting less attention than will the 



482 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

one statement that the school system of Grand Rapids is ex- 
pensive. The criticisms made in this report where attention is 
drawn to the necessity of improving instruction in certain parti- 
culars are in danger of exaggeration because communities have 
not been trained in the careful study of educational results and 
do not know how to deal with a report that is critical in any 
detail. 

The Board of Education of Grand Rapids has an opportuni- 
ty to contribute to the inauguration of a new era in school 
administration. Let the Board continue the policy which it has 
adopted in organizing a survey. Let it demand of its officers a 
clear statement at frequent intervals of the results being at- 
tained in the schools. Let the Board insist that the statements 
of results be compared in detail with the statement of costs. Let 
tTie Board insist that the future be planned in detail and with the 
greatest explicitness. Let the Board make it its chief duty to 
pass on plans and keep before the people the results of its 
studies. Let every officer be subject to the demand that results 
be proved and plans be worked out in detail. There will in such 
a situation be no danger of unfair domination by anyone through 
his mere personal influence and there will be no danger that 
finances will sufifer. 

It has been suggested in an earlier paragraph of this re- 
port that the school board increase its supervisory staff. There 
ought to be in a city of the size of Grand Rapids some officer 
who should rank as an assistant superintendent and who would 
have as one of his important functions the study of administra- 
tive, and supervisory matters. Such an officer would in the long 
run be a source of direct economy to the Board. His work,. sup- 
plementing that of the present officers, would promote efficiency 
in all educational lines. The appointment of such an officer 
would balance to some extent the increase which has been made 
in recent years in the cost of financial administration. The fact 
is that in most American cities, as in Grand Rapids, the adminis- 
trative machinery has expanded more slowly than the other 
phases of school organization. 

Coupled with this increase in the agencies for educational 
work should go a very definite movement for an improvement 
in training the principals of the elementary schools. The obser- 
vations of the Survey Staff have convinced all who have worked 
in the schools that there is at present too great devotion on the 
part of principals to petty routine. In many cases there is a dis- 
tinct lack of knowledge of administrative matters and a lack of 
initiative in the study of school methods of a modern type. 
Controlling a school building is a large public responsibility. 



ADMINISTRATIVE ORGANIZATION 483 

This responsibility can not be met unless the officers in charge 
of buildings know how to test results. Some principals resist 
any comparative studies because they know that their own or- 
ganization is vague. The city has a right to demand of princi- 
pals, as of its major officers, a clear, frequent statement of re- 
sults and of plans for the future. Every building should be fre- 
quently checked up in financial as well as educational matters. 
The principals should have large authority and should be held 
strictly accountable. It is recommended that principals be re- 
quired to report to the superintendent at frequent intervals, defi- 
nite evidences of progress in their schools. It is recommended 
that they be required to show that they are keeping abreast of 
current educational movements and that they are taking definite 
steps to improve the teaching corps in their buildings. 



SUMMARY OF THE REPORT OF THE 

SURVEY OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS 

OF GRAND RAPIDS 



Methods of the Survey 



During the winter and spring of 1916 twelve educational 
specialists made a survey of the schools of Grand Rapids. They 
made observations in the classrooms of both the elementary and 
the high schools. They also went over the records of the school 
system and compiled tables showing the organization of the 
teaching staff, the number of children in the different grades 
who are promoted and not promoted, the number of students in 
the various high-school classes who secure high grades, or fail in 
their work, and other matters of the same type. They examined 
the financial records of the Board for the purpose of finding out 
how expenditures are distributed over the different activities of 
the school system. All these matters have been reported on in 
detail in the various sections of the survey report. 

After collecting facts of the type indicated in the last para- 
graph, comparisons were worked out to show how Grand Rapids 
stands in relation to other school systems in matters of instruc- 
tion and expenditure. Furthermore, the various school buildings 
within the Grand Rapids system itself were compared with each 
other so that it is possible on the basis of the facts which have 
been brought together to pass judgment on the relative effi- 
ciency of the various schools and of the system as a whole. 

Survey Staff 

The following men constituted the staff which carried on the 
survey. The particular duties which they performed are also 
indicated in connection with their names. Professor Charles S. 
Berry, University of Michigan, prepared the report on special 
classes. Professor John F. Bobbitt, University of Chicago, pre- 
pared the report on the elementary school curriculum and on 
the school buildings. Dr. George S. Counts, Delaware Univer- 



SUMMARY OF THE SURVEY 485 

sity, prepared the report on arithmetic. Mr. John B. Cragun, 
University of Chicago, prepared the report on music. Professor 
Calvin O. Davis, University of Michigan, prepared the report on 
high' schools. Superintendent John H. Francis, Los Angeles 
Public Schools, reported briefly as indicated in the discussion 
of junior high schools on the work of that part of the system. 
Professor Frank N. Freeman, University of Chicago, prepared 
the report on v^riting. Dr. William S. Gray, University of Chi- 
cago, prepared the report on reading. Dr. Benjamin F. Pittenger, 
University of Texas, prepared a large part of the statistical ma- 
terial used in the chapters on teachers and promotions. Dr. 
Harold O. Rugg, University of Chicago, prepared the report on 
school finance. Mr. Matthev^ H. Willing, University of Chi- 
cago, prepared the report on composition. Professor Charles H. 
Judd, University of Chicago, organized the survey staff and 
edited the results, contributing the portions of the report not 
otherwise indicated. 

Introduction — General Characteristics of the City 

The survey report has a brief introduction which reviews 
the census tables and other information describing the city of 
Grand Rapids as a manufacturing and economic center. Refer- 
ence is here made to the fact that there are a number of parochial 
schools in the city which are not included in the survey of the 
public school system. Reference is also made to the fact that 
there are other educational institutions in the city which contri- 
bute to the life of the people. 

It would be very advantageous if the municipality as a 
whole would survey all of its social resources as the Board of 
Education has surveyed the schools. There are many forms 
of educational activity which apply chiefly to the adults in the 
community, such as libraries, churches and places of amuse- 
ment. These ought to be understood and the need for their en- 
largement is quite as great as the need for the enlargement of 
school facilities. As is shown in the report on the schools, 
Grand Rapids is a city altogether competent to provide its peo- 
ple with the best intellectual and social opportunities. These 
should be developed not only for the children in the schools but 
also for all classes of people at all stages of development. 

Chapter I — Teachers 

The first chapter of the report deals with the teaching staff 
in the schools. Their training and tenure of office are exhibited 
from the records of the Board of Education. The high-school 



486 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

teachers are in the main college graduates, especially those who 
teach academic subjects, thus conforming to the standards of 
the University of Michigan and of the North Central Associa- 
tion. There are a number of older teachers in the high-school 
faculties who are not college graduates. A sharp distinction 
appears between the training and experience of teachers of 
academic subjects and teachers of special subjects such as man- 
ual training, drawing, etc. These teachers of special subjects 
are very much less experienced and have spent much less time 
in their training than the teachers of the traditional subjects. 
Many of them are not college graduates. As a result the newer 
subjects are put at a distinct disadvantage in school organiza- 
tion. It is only fair to say that exactly the same situation exists 
throughout the United States. If, however, these newer subjects 
are to be organized as well as the traditional subjects, they 
ought to be taken care of by teachers of the greatest possible 
training and maturity. The school authorities ought to continue 
the policy so far as possible of aiming at the same level of train- 
ing for teachers of both academic and non-academic subjects. 

Among the elementary school teachers it is the teachers in 
the middle grades who have the least preparation and experience> 
This again is in conformity with the practice of schools through- 
out the United States. There are some dangers in this distribu- 
tion of elementary teachers. It is always necessary for a school 
system to assimilate its younger and less experienced teachers 
by putting them somewhere, but the distribution ought prob- 
ably to be made somewhat more uniformally over all the grades. 
The training of the elementary school teachers is very good. 
Most of them are graduates of normal schools and some of them 
are college graduates. 

The kindergarten teachers are very largely trained in Grand 
Rapids and have only that experience which they have acquired 
in the city. The report recommends that the public schools as- 
sume in a much larger degree responsibility for the training of 
kindergartners. 

In point of tenure, attention is called to the fact that the 
teachers of Grand Rapids remain relatively long in their posi- 
tions, which shows that the organization of tile system in this 
city is stable in its relations with the teachers. 

The training and experience of the principals of the ele- 
mentary schools are made subjects of special comment. Many 
of these principals have been in the service of the Grand Rapids 
system for a long period of time. The record of their training, 
in many cases, does not show any evidence of their having 
specialized on the problems of school administration. Indeed, 



SUMMARY OF THE SURVEY 487 

many of them are unable to report any special studies during the 
recent years of their connection with the school system. This is 
a matter of grave importance to the school system. School 
supervision is not the same as class instruction and anyone who 
undertakes to supervise a school building ought to make a spe- 
cial study of the problems of organization. The principal ought 
to keep up with current educational literature, and this can be 
done only when the principal is vigorous in study and attendance 
on the many educational institutions which are now offering- 
special training of this kind. The practice in American schools 
has been to advance to the principalship the senior teacher in the 
school building. This practice ought to be discontinued. Spe- 
cial attention ought to be given to the kind of study which will 
qualify one to make tests of the work done in the school and 
supervise the teachers so as to set up and maintain the highest 
standards. For example, as will be shown in the next chapter 
of the report, the problem of promotions is a special administra- 
tive problem depending on principles that need a much more 
complete standardization than has been w^orked out in the 
Grand Rapids schools. Control of promotions is one of the 
major duties of the principal and where there is any irregularity 
in the standard of promotion the school system ought to look 
into the efficiency of the principal. 

Chapter II — Non-Promotions in Elementary Schools 

The second chapter of the report deals with non-promotions 
and failures in the elementary schools. Non-promotions are of 
crucial importance in the school system because they show the 
extent to which the work of the schools is not successfully com- 
pleted by pupils. Whenever a child fails the school is confronted 
by a serious problem. It used to be the habit of school authori- 
ties to assume that the child was responsible for his own failure. 
It was assumed that the course of study and the methods of 
instruction were fixed and that the children must conform to all 
of the standards thus set up in the schools. In recent years, on 
the other hand, it has been recognized that the school shares with 
the pupil the responsibility for a failure. It is recognized that 
the course of study ought to be modified so far as possible to 
meet the needs of individual children. Where the course of 
study cannot be modified special classes can be developed which 
will take care of the children who are not able to complete with 
success the ordinary course. Grand Rapids has done a great 
deal in its efforts to provide special classes for children who 
fail in the regular work. A separate report on the classes for 
defectives and retards is included in the survey and emphasis 



488 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

will there be laid on the fact that it is a great advantage to an 
educational system to differentiate the pupils in such a way as 
to leave the regular classes free to work with children who are 
adapted to the course of study and who can in great proportion 
succeed with the work of that course. 

The record of non-promotions shows that there is a high 
percentage of non-promotions in the first grade. This is the 
common experience of all school systems. The children are 
trying to adjust themselves in the first grade to the work of the 
school. Many of them find this difficult with the result that 
they do not succeed. By the second grade non-promotions in 
the Grand Rapids schools are reduced to about ten per cent of 
the children. This is a better record than is exhibited in many 
school systems. The percentage is, however, high, and the teach- 
ers of Grand Rapids ought to be encouraged to make a careful 
study of this matter of non-promotions and find out its causes. 
Some of the causes can be discovered by making a detailed study 
of failures in particular subjects. Such a study was made by the 
survey and shows that the failures in reading are high in the 
early years of the school but fall oft' notably and steadily in 
succeeding grades. The failures in arithmetic, on the other hand, 
increase and are at a very high level throughout the school year. 
From the third to the seventh grades the failures in arithmetic 
average more than 19 per cent. This is a very high level of 
failures in a particular subject and indicates that the work that 
is expected of children in the grades is heavier than it ought 
to be. 

The report also contains tables and diagrams showing the 
failures in other subjects. Thus it is shown that the failures in 
the fifth and sixth grades in geography are at a very high level. 

The situation with regard to non-promotions is relieved in 
part by the fact that the Grand Rapids system has a plan of trial 
promotion. A great many children who fail in particular sub- 
jects are not held back for the whole grade but are allowed to go 
forward for one year on trial. This plan is to be commended 
because it saves a great many pupils from non-promotion who 
would otherwise be held back for a full year. 

The statistics for non-promotion have been put together in 
the report so as to show that the practices of different schools 
are very different. In the first place, when one compares suc- 
cessive grades it appears within the same school that the prac- 
tices of different teachers differ widely so that in two successive 
grades the level of non-promotions is altogether different. In 
some buildings the non-promotions are very high throughout all 
of the grades while in others they are relatively low. These facts 



SUMMARY OF THE SURVEY 489 

show that there Is great need of standardization of the practices 
of the different schools. 

Observations and Tests in Elementary Schools 

Chapters III to VIII describe in detail investigations which 
were made of the results of elementary school teaching. These 
results were observed by members of the survey staff. In addi- 
tion standard tests were used to discover the ability of children 
in each of the subjects. The most Important subject in the ele- 
mentary school curriculum is reading. A good deal of time and 
attention was devoted both by the survey staff and by the prin- 
cipals and teachers to this subject with the result which may be 
described as follows. 

Reading 

This study was carried on by means of systematic tests in 
oral reading and in silent reading, and by means of classroom 
observations. The tests were given to 4,066 pupils in 37 schools 
by the principals and their assistants. The material used in the 
tests consisted in short selections which had been used in similar 
studies in other cities. 

The distinction between these two types of reading is one of 
great Importance. In earUer days, oral reading received special 
emphasis in every class. At the present time it is emphasized 
chiefly in the lower grades. Experience has taught that this 
type of reading is very effective during that period when the 
pupil is mastering the fundamentals of reading. Even in the 
mtermediate and upper grades, a pupil is called upon frequently 
to read orally. On the other hand, a pupil soon learns to use 
reading as a means of securing ideas for himself and he substi- 
tutes silent reading for oral reading. During the greater part of 
his school life the progress of a pupil depends upon his ability 
to master the thought of the printed page during the periods of 
silent study. Furthermore, under most ordinary situations of 
life, one reads silently for the purpose of gathering ideas and not 
for the purpose of oral exhibition. With this recognition in 
mind of the very great importance of silent reading, it was quite 
clear that the quality of instruction In reading in Grand Rapids 
should be determined upon the basis of achievement both in oral 
reading and in silent reading. 

In oral reading, it was found that pupils In Grand Rapids 
stand very high. As compared with Cleveland and a number 
of other cities which had been tested up to that time, Grand 
Rapids holds first place. The classroom observations revealed 



490 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

the fact that these commendable results are due in a large 
measure to excellent methods which many teachers in Grand 
Rapids pursue. The tests showed, however, that schools vary 
widely in their achievement in oral reading. It 'was, therefore, 
recommended in the survey report that a careful study be made 
of problems in teaching oral reading to the end that the excel- 
lent methods now used by the more skillful teachers may be ex- 
plained and demonstrated. 

The silent reading tests measured the rate at which pupils 
read silently and the degree to which pupils understand what 
they read. The results of the tests showed that Grand Rapids 
secures a relatively high level of attainment in rate of silent 
reading. This is a phase of reading, however, concerning which 
teachers should not feel satisfied with their results even though 
they are superior to other schools. Most schools are low in rate 
because there has been no recognition of the importance of rate. 

A careful study of the ability of the pupils of Grand Rapids 
to understand what is read showed that they are below the aver- 
age for thirteen cities which have been measured by similar 
methods. This is a phase of reading to which teachers of Grand 
Rapids should give increasing attention. The successful result^ 
are due to the keen interest which teachers are taking in teach- 
ing reading, to the large number of readers supplied to the 
teachers, and to the excellent methods developed by many of 
the teachers. The points where improvements can be made are 
brought out in the tests and the methods of making the im- 
provements are suggested by a careful observation of the classes 
which make high records. 

Arithmetic 

The next series of tests dealt with arithmetic. For some 
time past the pupils in the elementary schools of Grand Rapids 
have been using a series of practice exercises in arithmetic which 
were prepared by Mr. S. A. Courtis. The test which was given 
them was an elaborate test going somewhat beyond the exer- 
cises on which they had been practicing but covering in detail 
all of the work done in the elementary grades. The test in 
question is a spiral test. The fundamental operations of addi- 
tion, substraction, multiplication, and division appear in the 
early sections of this test in simple form. Through the remain- 
ing sections of the test the fundamental operations appear in 
more complex forms. The same test is given to all of the children 
in the schools and the results are tabulated so as to show how 
far children in the different grades and in the different buildings 



SUMMARY OF THE SURVEY 491 

are able to solve correctly examples in each of the sections of 
tlie test. 

Full tables are presented showing the success of the differ- 
ent grades in this spiral test. Furthermore, a comparison is 
made between Grand Rapids and Cleveland, Ohio, where the 
same test was used. In general, it may be said that the pupils 
in Grand Rapids are somewhat lower in the earlier grades than 
are the pupils in Cleveland but in the upper grades the Grand 
Rapids pupils succeed better. This would indicate that stress is 
not laid on the arithmetical processes in the early grades of the 
Grand Rapids schools as much as in Cleveland. The final suc- 
cess of the work seems to justify the method of postponing em- 
phasis on these arithmetical processes. 

One table which gives the general results for all of the 
schools in the Grand Rapids system is especially interesting be- 
cause it shows a very high degree of consistency in the work of 
the different elementary schools. 

Some further analysis was made of the standing of children 
of different ages with a view to stimulating types of study which 
will lead to the adaptation of the course to children of different 
degrees of ability and different ages. As pointed out in an earl- 
ier section of the report, the arithmetic course needs to be modi- 
fied in view of the fact that the failures in this subject are ex- 
cessive as contrasted with other subjects in the course of study. 

Penmanship 

The next subject of instruction in which tests were tried 
was penmanship. A few years ago the Board of Education of 
Grand Rapids found that the penmanship in the schools was 
unsatisfactory.. They accordingly introduced a new system and 
required each of the teachers to acquire a higher degree of skill 
and to adopt this system. The results of the test make it clear 
that the system of handwriting now in use in Grand Rapids pro- 
duces good results. Especially does it produce a high level of 
speed throughout all of the grades. The quality of handwriting 
in the lowest grades is not as good as the quality of handwriting 
in many other school systems, but under the system which is 
employed in Grand Rapids it is not expected that emphasis 
will be laid on form in the early grades. The satisfactory result 
which is obtained in the upper grades removes any criticism 
that might be directed against the work of the schools. 

Mr. Freeman in making his report on handwriting discusses 
at some length the desirability of introducing in the early grades 
the amount of arm movement which is now practiced. It is his 
judgment that the system ought to be somewhat modified in 



492 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

these early grades so as to free the little children from the 
necessity of the type of movement which is there required. The 
study reveals further the fact that the practices of different 
schools in the system are very different in the matter of hand- 
writing. This is one of the subjects which it is very difficult to 
supervise unless one has definite standards and constantly checks 
up the results by a series of tests. The recommendation is 
therefore urgently made that in all of the school buildings super- 
vision of penmanship be worked out by means of systematic 
tests frequently applied to the grades. 

Composition 

A series of tests were made in composition. The children 
were asked to write on a subject carefully assigned and the re- 
sults were, compared b}^ means of a series of children's compo- 
sitions that have been graded by Mr. Willing in equal steps so 
as to constitute a suitable scale for evaluating the work of the 
children of Grand Rapids. Here again differences in the differ- 
ent schools were conspicuous. In the main the work was found 
to be good. It was superior to the results of a similar test carried 
on in Denver, Colorado. Since the Denver school system is a 
very good system it is fair to infer from this comparison that 
the work in the Grand Rapids school system would be superior if 
compared with the average school system of the country. 

Observation Supplements Tests 

Testing composition is a very fair way of getting at the gen- 
eral intelligence of the children because they are called upon to 
use a difficult medium of expression and to use it with a degree 
of correctness and fluency which exhibits their power to express 
themselves in all matters in later life. It is at the same time 
much easier to test composition accurately than to test the special 
subjects such as history and geography in which the school gives 
them training. Indeed the tests which have been described up to 
this point in the report deal only with those phases of school 
work which can be reduced to a definite quantitative basis. There 
are other phases of school work which can be judged only indir- 
ectly by these formal tests. It should be remembered, however, 
that each one of the members of the survey staff who performed 
tests had an opportunity through his visits in the classrooms to 
form a judgment of the character of the work in the schools. 

The classes are industrious and well organized. The teach- 
ers are for the most part efficient and successful in their work. 
The school system shows by the results of the tests and from 



SUMMARY OF THE SURVEY 493 

all of the observations a high type of organization and a high 
level of achievement. 

Music 

Turning from the regular subjects of school work to one of 
the special subjects, an investigation was made of the course in 
music. Grand Rapids has emphasized a number of the newer 
subjects which have been introduced in the course of study be- 
cause of the general training which the pupils acquire from these 
subjects. Music is such an addtional subject. The work that is 
commonly offered in American schools in music is not as well 
standardized as the courses which are offered in the traditional 
subjects. It is difficult, therefore, to give any definite compari- 
son which will show the success of the work in music in Grand 
Rapids. 

Mr. Cragun, who observed the work in music, passes a very 
favorable judgment oil all that he saw. He finds that the work 
in Grand Rapids is carefully systematized so that the children 
who have difficulty with music are taken care of in the early 
grades and the chief source of failure in school music is thus 
eliminated. He finds also that the educational aspects of musical 
instruction have been carefully worked out. The children know 
how to pay attention to musical intervals and how to recognize 
the rhythms which are part of their musical training. 

This favorable judgment of music is in a measure confirmed 
by certain tests which Mr. Cragun tried on the children. He has 
some material from St. Louis and the Elementary School of the 
University of Chicago, and this material all tends to show that 
the work of Grand Rapids is of a high grade and successful in its 
results. Mr. Cragun's conclusion with regard to the music in- 
struction in Grand Rapids is especially significant in view of the 
fact that Grand Rapids invests each year a good deal of money in 
special training. It is distinctly the view of the Grand Rapids 
administration that this type of training is socially important 
and of great individual significance. One of the reasons why the 
school system of Grand Rapids is expansive is that courses of this 
kind are introduced. 

Other New Subjects. 

We may assume that some of the other newer types of work 
that are less conventional than reading and arithmetic are also 
carried on in a successful way. There are no standards which 
make it possible to determine the degree of excellence of the 
work in drawing, but a number of the members of the survey 



494 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIG;.:, 

staff in the course of their observations made favorable reports 
on the work in drawing and also the courses in physical training. 

Course of Instruction in the Elementary Schools.* 

The examination and discussion of the work of the element- 
ary schools in connection with the survey proved a pleasant task 
because of the fact that so much good work is going on within 
the city. The professional people are in. a high degree alive to 
the nature of current educational problems. They have been 
and are industriously and conscientiously grappling with those 
problems ; and like the progressive school people throughout the 
country, as they adapt and adjust the work year after year, they 
are solving the various problems. The best ideas already to be 
found in the work of the city in connection with the teaching of 
each of the subjects, where these subjects are taught at their 
best, cover about everything that we can recommend in the re- 
port of the survey. The primary duty of the survey therefore 
turned out to be that of selecting what is currently considered the 
best types of work as these are already developed by thoughtful 
and progressive teachers and supervisors in the city, and of rec- 
ommending that these best types of work found here and there 
through the city, be made general in all of the schools. 

In reading the instructional recommendations of the survey, 
school people and community should keep in mind one important 
fact and one equally important probability which amounts to 
practical certainty: (1) The character of the educational work 
found in the city is now far in advance of what it was twenty 
years ago : (2) The character of the work now found in the city 
probably falls equally far short in its quality of what it will be 
in another twenty years. Great pains have been made in 
the past. Equally great gains are yet to be made, innumerable 
beginnings of which are to be observed everywhere throughout 
the work of the city. As one points out improvements which 
need to be introduced, therefore, it is nort in any spirit of fault- 
finding criticism. One is merely co-operating in the development 
of a constructive program. One is simply attempting to reen- 
force the arguments and efforts of those now working within 
the system who are attempting to secure these very same im- 
provements. 

The reading work of the schools, to take one of the more 
important subjects first, is developing along good lines. In the 
buildings where it is best done, whether in primary or grammar 
grades, the children cover a large amount of reading material dur- 
ing the school year. Reading needs to be increasingly done for 

*This section of the summary was prepared by Professor Bobbitt. 



SUMMARY OF THE SURVEY 495 

the thought, the mental experience, and the general widening 
of one's intellectual and social vision. Covering so much ground, 
the children are trained to rapid reading. The conditions demand 
also training in thoughful silent reading. The schools are sup- 
plied w^ith a considerable quantity of supplementary books in 
sets. The city is, however, singularly fortunate in its library sit- 
uation. It is doubtful if any other city in the country has done 
so much to place at the disposal of every school such easy and 
complete access to a great city library. The degree to which 
both schools and community are taking advantage of the various 
types of library facilities is one of the signs of incalculable prom- 
ise. 

To the subject of history, Grand Rapids is giving only about 
half as much time as the average of fifty representative American 
cities. Practically all of this is placed in the last two grades of the 
elementary school. Since about thirty per cent of the growing 
generation in Grand Rapids drops out of school before complet- 
ing the work of the last two grammar grades, it follows that this 
large per cent of the population of the city does not have that 
fundamental training in American citizenship which comes from 
a study of American history. This deficiency in historical train- 
ing is serious. It is in part made up through the supplementary 
and library reading. While this is excellent, it seems that it 
should be taken care of more consciously. In a democracy, civic 
problems requiring a good historical background for judgment 
are very numerous, and are growing still more numerous. 

Civic instruction is mostly a mere addendum to history. 
It is, however, of immeasurable social value. The work now 
done within the city is of only a rudimentary type. No subject 
is more in need of conscious direction and development. 

Where the geography work in the city is at its best, the 
schools are well supplied with geographical reading materials, 
maps, models, pictures, etc. ; the teachers have learned the value 
of the geographic experience that is to be had in connection with 
these concrete modes of presentation ; and they have learned the 
superior value of problem-geography as compared with the old 
textbook fact-learning type of teaching. The good type of 
work referred to, found in certain of the buildings, needs to be 
made general throughout the system. This cannot be done, how- 
ever, until the various buildings are supplied with a larger quan- 
tity and usually a better quality of geographical reading mater- 
ials. While maps, pictures, charts, etc., are indispensable, good 
reading materials must really constitute the basis of teaching the 
subject. 

In arithmetic the schools labor under the serious handicap of 



496 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

having a textbook which thej do not generally use. Major at- 
tention is given to skill, accuracj and speed in computation. Too 
much time, however, of both teachers and children is consumed 
in finding and copying problems out of books other than the text- 
book. On the one hand, the city is in need of a text that is 
adapted to the type of work that is being done ; and on the other 
hand, supplementary printed helps are also needed. These are 
in part already being supplied by the board in the shape of the 
Courtis practice material. 

When one inquires as to the grammar and composition, one 
early discovers the influential presence of ''The News Junior." 
By furnishing a wide reading public, this little paper vitalizes 
the written expression of hundreds and even thousands of the 
children. The plan is highly commendable and the schools in 
general seem to be taking a full advantage of their opportunity. 

Without going into further detail, it can be said of the other 
subjects that in all of them, somewhere within the school system, 
one finds superior work going on which points the lines of devel- 
opment to be followed in making this type of work general 
throughout the schools of the city. 

Special Classes and Schools 

In addition to these reports on the regular routine of ele- 
mentary instruction. Professor Berry of the University of Michi- 
gan prepared a special report on the various classes which are 
organized to take care of children who are defective or backward 
in their school work. This report opens with the comment that 
Grand Rapids has more children of this type in special classes 
than most other cities. This does not mean that Grand Rapids 
has more children who are defective but that the machinery for 
separating them from the rest of the pupils is more completely 
worked out. In fact, Grand Rapids has been more energetic 
than most cities in selecting these difficult cases and giving them 
the treatment which takes the form of separate classes and separ- 
ate schools. 

There are a number of types of special classes and schools 
for backward children of various types. Mr. Berry commends the 
system as successful in many of its aspects. He believes that it 
would be better to segregate these children earlier than they are 
now segregated. In making this recommendation it should be 
clearly recognized that a grave social problem is involved in sep- 
arating any children from the regular classes. Parents usually 
object to the removal of their children from the regular grades, 
and supervisors are anxious lest they should be guilty of mistakes 
in picking out children who will later prove to be normal. The 



SUMMARY OF THE SURVEY 497 

community ought to be educated to the point of recognizing the 
difficulty which the school here encounters and the necessity of 
providing whatever facilities are necessary for the proper care 
of these children. 

Society has a problem in defective children which is not 
merely an educational problem but a general social problem. If 
these children are not taken care of, they become dependent and 
very expensive in their later years. Not only so, but society suf- 
fers from their maladjustment to the social order in many other 
ways. 

At present the equipment for these special classes, while 
relatively good, is in some cases not as complete as it should be. 
Grand Rapids is therefore to be commended for what has been 
done on the material side along the lines of providing for these 
children, but is urged to go much further in elaborating the fac- 
ilities for treating these children. 

Mr. Berry has performed a number of tests to check up the 
work done by the regular officers who have these children in 
charge and finds that the supervision of these schools is in sat- 
isfactory condition. The devotion of teachers of special classes 
is to be commended and the general organization of this work is 
excellent. 

High Schools. 

A full report on the high schools is rendered by Mr. C. O. 
Davis of the University of Michigan. The report on the high 
schools can be divided into three sections. First, there is a sec- 
tion dealing with the junior high schools ; second, one dealing 
with the senior high schools or the regular four-year schools ; 
and finally, one dealing with the junior college organized at the 
Central High School. 

Junior High Schools. 

The junior high school represents an efifort to create a closer 
connection between the elementary school and the high school. 
In most cities the break between the eighth grade and the first 
year of the high school is so great that children have difficulty 
when they get into the high school in adjusting themselves to 
the methods of work and to the requirements of their instructors. 
Grand Rapids was one of the first cities in the United States to 
recognize the desirability of reorganizing the seventh and eighth 
grades so as to avoid so far as possible this break between the 
elementary school and the high school. The junior high-school 
movement has come in recent years to be one of the most sig- 



498 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

nificant movements in American education. Grand Rapids pre- 
ceded other cities in organizing this kind of a school. 

There are three different types of junior high schools in 
Grand Rapids. The institution which bears the name ''Junior 
High School" is a separate institution in which the upper grades 
are at work by themselves. The South High School has a six- 
year course of study which includes both the junior high school 
and the work of the senior high school. The Union High School 
relates the work of the, junior high school somewhat more closely 
to that of a fully organized elementary school. 

In all of these institutions the course of study differs some- 
what from the course of study ordinarily administered in the 
seventh and eighth grades. Opportunities are given for special- 
ization on the part of those children who are going to go on in 
the languages. Other children who wish to specialize in the 
manual arts are given an opportunity to take courses of that type. 
The junior high school thus gives an opportunity to differentiate 
somewhat the courses of the different pupils. 

It is the contention of the report that this differentiation and 
modification of the courses ought to go forward even further than 
they have gone in Grand Rapids. Where the junior high school 
reaches its fullest possible organization the children in the 
seventh and eighth grades are allowed an opportunity to do some 
of the science work and some of the work in mathematics which 
has traditionally been regarded as high-school work. Without 
attempting to go into the details which are taken up in the report 
it may be said that the report urges a continuation and extension 
of the junior high-school organization. 

Senior High Schools. 

The senior high schools are undertaking a number of new 
lines of activity. Thus, the sixty-minute period has been sub- 
stituted for the forty-minute period. The various subjects in 
which instruction is given are being reorganized with respect to 
their material so as to make this material more appropriate to 
the students in the courses. In general it may be said that Mr. 
Davis finds the work of the senior high schools well organized 
and conducted in a thoroughly progressive spirit. 

There is a difference between the opportunities offered in the 
various high schools. The Central High School remains the best 
equipped and most completely organized high school of the city, 
Sooner or later the facilities in the other schools ought to be 
raised to the level of the facilities offered in the Central High 
School. 

In dealing with the organization of the work in the various 



SUMMARY OF THE SURVEY 499 

classes one finds that the different teachers evidently have stand- 
ards that differ widely from each other. This appears in the fact 
that the grades given to the students are very different and the 
number of failures in the different courses vary from each other 
by w^ide margins. There is less uniformity and systematization 
of the high school than there is of the elementary courses. 

These comments furnish an opporunity to suggest the desir- 
ability of a more definite effort on the part of the high schools to 
standardize their w^ork. This does not mean that the v^ork needs 
to be made absolutely uniform, but in all of those common char- 
acteristics of the high school there ought to be a clear conscious- 
ness of the necessity of offering an equal opportunity to all of the 
children and of administering these equal opportunities on the 
same general principles. 

Junior College 

The junior college constitutes one of the grave problems of 
school organization in Grand Rapids. It v^as undertaken in re- 
sponse to a natural demand on the part of the young people of 
the city v^ho expect to go to college for an opportunity to carry 
on the work of the early years of their college course as economi- 
cally as they can and as near their own homes as possible. Mr. 
Davis presents in very clear terms the arguments in favor of 
junior college work in the larger cities of the country. Wherever 
the community is large enough so that there are young people 
who can be more economically and advantageously trained at 
home it is in the interests of public economy that provision be 
made for them. These young people would go to the University of 
. Michigan if they did not have an opportunity in Grand Rapids it- 
self to attend a junior college, and the total expense to the com- 
munity of their higher education would be much greater than it 
will be if they are given junior college privileges in connection 
with the high-school course. On the other hand, it appears that 
the junior college is not at the present time in a flourishing con- 
dition. It is very little attended and it appears to be diminishing 
rather than increasing in registration. It is Mr. Davis' view that 
some encouragement of the organization would make possible a 
larger registration. At all events, the problem is clearly stated in 
Mr. Davis' report. 

The solution of the problem involves in some measure the at- 
titude of the University of Michigan. It is the attitude of the 
University that the courses which receive college credit shall 
contain only students who are candidates for college credit, that 
is, there shall be no mixture of college students and high-school 
students. It is also the attitude of the University that every 



500 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

credit which is given must be approved in detail by the depart- 
ments at the University of Michigan. 

It is pointed out in a preliminary statement made by Mr. 
Judd that these limitations from the University of Michigan 
destroy entirely the spirit of continuity between the high school 
and the junior college which characterizes at every other point 
the school system of Grand Rapids. It is quite impossible to or- 
ganize a junior college economically unless the small elective 
classes which are open to advanced students in the high school 
can be utilized for college purposes. The solution which is here 
suggested is one which would perhaps encounter opposition from 
the state university, but the report urges that an experimental 
attitude be assumed toward the situation and that a genuine 
effort be made to bring about an adjustment which shall in- 
crease the registration and shall make economical the organiza- 
tion of the junior college. One conclusion certainly can be reach- 
ed. If the junior college cannot be improved, it ought to be 
abandoned. 

Professor Bobbitt visited the various elementary schools of 
the city. His report on his observations is as follows : 

Buildings and Equipment 

In any consideration of the school buildings, one must divide 
them into two classes: (1) those that represent the building 
policies of former boards of education; (2) the newer buildings 
which represent the present building policy of the board. 

The newer buildings, such as the Sheldon and the Franklin, 
are thoroughly modern in practically every aspect of construction 
and equipment. The school plant supplies the material facil- 
ities for a wide range of educational and community activities, 
classrooms, assembly room, gymnasium, manual training room, 
domestic science room, branch public library, cloak rooms, 
nurse's room, shower baths, moving picture and stereopticon 
facilities, social center room, teachers' rest room, teachers' lunch- 
room, a room for ungraded pupils, etc. Buildings are fireproof, 
well lighted, well ventilated, the air properly heated, changed, 
and humidified; and general sanitary and instructional arrange- 
ments are of the most approved type. 

Some of the older buildings represent types of construction 
long since superceded. They usually offer opportunity for but 
a limited range of community and educational activities. The 
writer was informed that when the present Board took charge 
of affairs, the building situation was in a deplorable condition. 
The city was years behind in its building program. At a time 
when the city was growing rapidly, the Board has had the double 



SUMMARY OF THE SURVEY 501 

problem of making good past deficiency, at the same time supply- 
ing modern provision for a rapidly expanding school population. 

Much has been done by way of modernizing all the older 
buildings that must continue to serve for years yet. New ven- 
tilation arrangements have been made. Modern toilet facilities 
have been installed. New windows have been cut in rooms that 
were too dark. Unused basement rooms have been made into 
playrooms, shops, and kitchens. Older heating systems have 
given way to improved modern ones. 

While the Board has done as much for the older buildings 
as its funds would permit, much yet needs to be done as rapidly 
as the community is willing to supply the funds. Briefly stated, 
the task is simply to supply for all the districts of the city, so 
far as is reasonably possible, the same variety of social and edu- 
cational opportunity that is now supplied with districts having 
the newer buildings. Sometimes this will mean certain further 
alterations in construction or equipment ; sometimes the building 
of an addition which ought in many cases to be but the first unit 
in the construction of a thoroughly modern fireproof building 
which is to take the place of the older building years hence ; and 
in a few cases the entire building ought to be replaced with a new 
structure as early as practicable. 

Financial Report 

The financial situation in the Grand Rapids school system 
is taken up in great detail by Dr. Rugg, who discusses the finan- 
cial organization of the system. A summary of his findings 
is as follows: 

The Cost of Public Education in Grand Rapids. 

Among the cities of 100,000 to 150,000 population, Grand 
Rapids is a city of average wealth. It ranks ninth in 19 cities 
of that size in real wealth per inhabitant. With this average 
wealth, however, it is supporting schools more liberally than all 
but two other cities, Springfield, Massachusetts, and Des Moines, 
Iowa. In general, it shows itself to be a leader in the extent to 
which it taxes itself for schools. Furthermore, although it spends 
less for general city departments than most cities of its class, it 
gives a larger per cent of its municipal revenue to schools than 
any other city of the same size. Forty-five per cent of its city 
revenue goes to schools, whereas it is common for such cities 
to devote twenty-five per cent for such purposes. 

Although the city has been liberal in its endowment of edu- 
cation, it can hardly be commended for the method by which it 



502 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

has raised certain portions of its school money. Due to a long 
period of neglect of school buildings a decade ago, the Board of 
Education was forced to establish a thoroughgoing building pro- 
gram. Large sums of money were needed, and over two million 
dollars were spent for such purposes in the ensuing ten years. 
The larger part of this money was raised by bond issues, al- 
though at the same time the Board of Education had a large un- 
used taxing capacity. The law permits the Board to raise in 
any one year six mills on the dollar of assessable property for 
current running expenses, and an extra five mills for school 
buildings, grounds, additions, etc. This is an unusual privilege, 
for most such cities have to finance all their school work on 6 or 
7 mills. Notwithstanding this legal power, the Board has never 
taxed the city for school buildings to a greater extent than about 
one-third of the possible 5 mills. Instead, it has been forced to 
sell two million dollars' worth of school bonds, using a method 
that school administrative specialists agree is not wise school 
business policy. 

The Board has been desirous for years of building its school 
houses out of taxation, but the Common Council and Board of 
Estimate have not permitted this. Thus we have a city which is 
extremely liberal in its support of schools in the position of 
handicapping its Board of Education in the carrying on of school 
business. "The most adequate treatment for the future could 
come through legislation placing the taxing power in the hands 
of the Board of Education. As indicated above, to do so would 
bring Grand Rapids in line with the most progressive practice 
in the administration of school finance. The reorganization of 
the Board under the new charter ten years ago eliminated politi- 
cal influences from the immediate administration of the Board's 
educational and business services. The Board should look for- 
ward to a reorganization of taxing methods which will put the 
raising of school founds on such a basis that real use can be made 
of a scientifically planned budget." 

The future revenue of the Board of Education seems fairly 
assured. The city has greater legal capacity for financing schools 
than many other cities of its class ; its assessed valuation is in- 
creasing very rapidly, having doubled in 10 years ; its taxes for 
schools increased in 10 years from 2.29 mills in 1906 to 5.30 in 
1914. If property values increase during the next 15 years as 
they have in the past fifteen years the Board will face no imme- 
diate need for a revision of the taxing limits for general pur- 
poses. As pointed out above, the city should be prepared to 
give the Board enough to build its schools out of tax money 
instead of bond issues. Along with a rapidly increasing expendi- 



SUMMARY OF THE SURVEY 503 

ture for schools has gone a more rapidly increasing revenue with 
the result that the Board has been forced to borrow money but 
once in fifteen years to meet current expenses. This borrowing 
in 1912 was due to a change in the legal date for collection of 
state tax money, thus hampering the Board in Grand Rapids to 
the extent of $225,000. 

How does the Board spend the city's money? Investigation 
shows that the Board is, in the main, distributing the city's money 
to different kinds of school work fairly equitably. That is, it 
ranks first in 19 cities in its actual endowment of educational and 
business overhead charges (administration) and in the amount 
it spends for the instruction of each pupil in the schools. In its 
attention to running the plant and keeping it in good repair it 
spends more than two-thirds of the cities of its class. The 
Board has shown a tendency to give relatively more attention 
to non-instructional or business matters than to purely instruc- 
tional matters. This is due primarily to the fact that Grand 
Rapids has a two-headed system of school administration, a 
business manager over all business affairs, independent of the 
Superintendent of Schools who is in charge of only educational 
matters. It is the conclusion of the survey staff that this con- 
dition should be changed and that certain other departmental 
changes be brought about as recommended in the detailed report. 

The Board is paying better salaries to teachers than all but 
one city (Springfield, Massachusetts) of Grand Rapids' class. 
However, it has not developed the supervisory work of the 
schools as much as other cities. It is endowing both elementary 
and secondary schools better than all the other cities,, excepting 
Springfield, but gives- a much larger proportion of its money to 
its high schools than to its elementary schools. It should pay 
proportionately more attention to developing elementary educa- 
tion in the city. This large expenditure per pupil for secondary 
schools is caused by the fact that Grand Rapids has had a very 
rapidly developing high-school population. This has meant four 
things : a rapidly increasing secondary staff, a parallel decrease 
in the size of classes, a decided increase in the secondary pay- 
roll, a parallel increase in the salary schedule. Salary schedules 
for both elementary and secondary schools have been increased 
liberally by the Board. At the same time the high-school and 
grammar classes are small enough to provide ample opportunity 
for good instruction. The primary classes are much larger and 
it is believed that more attention should be given them. 

Within the past five years the Board of Education has de- 
veloped the junior high schools and the various special schools 
very rapidly. Inquiry leads to the conclusion that the expendi- 



504 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

tures for these purposes are probably justified. It reveals, how- 
ever, that the business department of the schools is not working 
intensively enough in the accounting end of such activities. The 
Board never obtained a statement of the added cost of such acti- 
vities. The survey shows, for example, that it costs nearly 
twice as much to teach a pupil in the seventh and eighth grade 
when he is in the Junior High School as when he is in the regu- 
lar grammar school. This is due largely to larger salaries paid 
to teachers and smaller classes. This increased expenditure can 
very easily be justified by the increased benefit to the pupils. 
The whole problem of cost accounting in the public schools 
should be taken up more thoroughly. 

General Administrative Organization 

The last chapter of the report deals with the administrative 
organization. Under the Board of Education there are two 
divisions of school administration. One has to do with the in- 
structional side of the school's activities ; the other has to do 
with the business organization. The unity of these two organi- 
zations is secured through their common dependence on the 
Board of Education. 

Too much cannot be said by way of praise of the attitude of 
the Board of Education toward problems of administration. This 
body is free from political influence and is carrying on the schools 
in the most harmonious way. The efticiency of the school or- 
ganization, while it is to be attributed in large measure to the 
school officers who deal directly with the problems of the class- 
room, is also to be attributed to the spirit and temper of the 
general administration which does not interfere with these tech- 
nical officers but rather supplies them w^ith the equipment which 
they need for their work. 

A school board, whatever its spirit of administration, faces in 
a modern American city a most complex problem. This prob- 
lem includes buildings, teachers, and central administrative offi- 
cers. To hold all of these agencies and equipments together in 
such a way as to offer a like opportunity to all of the children 
of the city calls for the highest type of technical knowledge and 
technical supervision. Such technical supervision and unifica- 
tion of the school system can be provided for only when admin- 
istrative machinery is set up complete enough to include all of 
the interests that are at stake and impersonal enough to treat 
all of these interests with impartial justice. In the early days of 
American school organization, when school systems were small, 
the effort was made to direct these school systems through per- 
sonal observation, and the strong influence of a single individual 



SUMMARY OF THE SURVEY 505 

was enough to guarantee a complete organization of the school. 
Today, when the conditions are so much more complicated, it 
becomes necessary to provide the school system with the means 
of scientific supervision. There must be a constant system of 
reports which will bring to the central office information re- 
garding the activities of each school. For example, the attempt 
has been made to show in this report that much closer super- 
vision of non-promotions is necessary than can be given under 
the present method of dealing with that problem. This closer 
supervision cannot be of a purely personal type. There must 
be a standardization of practice and there must be a careful anal- 
ysis of all departures from the standard practice. 

Scientific supervision means a more elaborate type of super- 
vision than is provided at the present time. This in turn means 
a more definite recognition of the dangers of the lack of unity. 
The grave problem which confronts a school board, therefore, 
is the problem of providing more agencies of supervision while 
at the same time it provides greater concentration of responsi- 
bility in the central office. 

The report offers several examples of present practices 
which show in the judgment of the survey staff the desirability 
of a union between financial administration and instructional ad- 
ministration. These examples are intended to make clear the 
recommendation of the survey staff that the Board ofr Educa- 
tion take steps to correlate the business activities of the Board's 
officers more closely with the activities of the officers in charge 
ol instruction. 

Conclusion 

The report in general shows that there is a very satisfactory 
condition of progress in the Grand Rapids school system. In- 
struction is of a high order and results are relatively superior. 
The detailed recommendations which have been outlined in this 
summary and are presented in full in the report would make for 
an improvement of a school system already well organized and 
carrying on its work in a very adequate fashion. 

Industrial Education Survey 

There is one general comment which is introduced at a num- 
ber of points in the report and may be made the subject of spe- 
cial remark. Grand Rapids as an industrial city has a problem 
of vocational education which has been solved only in part. 
There are now provided educational opportunities in the night 
classes for vocational training of adults. The relation of vo- 



506 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

cational education to regular school work requires in Grand 
Rapids, as it does in most American cities, more attention than 
has been accorded to that problem in the past. The kind of 
reading matter which children have in the schools will undoubt- 
edly have to be modified in view of the use which they are going 
to make of reading in practical life. The science which they 
study would furnish a very interesting and useful introduction 
to a study of industries. Mr. Bobbitt's comments on the course 
of study and Mr. Davis' comments on the need of enlarging the 
manual opportunities of the junior high school, all point in the 
direction of a general problem which the Grand Rapids system 
ought to face, namely the problem of offering an opportunity for 
more industrial education to the young people of the city. Modi- 
fications in the course of study which are introduced in order to 
solve this problem ought not to be introduced rashly. The only 
intelligent procedure for any community is to find out what are 
its industrial needs and what are the relations of industry to 
school work. The complete and satisfactory adjustment of re- 
lations in this matter calls for a careful scientific study of the 
situation. This could be carried out in Grand Rapids by a sur- 
vey of the industries such as has been made in Richmond, Vir-, 
ginia, or in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is recommended by the 
present survey that additional investigations of this type be 
made so as to prepare the school officers and the community for 
an enlargement of the school work to include industrial educa- 
tion. 



INDEX 



Administrative organization .-. 476-483, 504 

Administrative policies of Board " 419 

Arithmetic 106-128, 490 

Failures in 40 

Grand Rapids and Cleveland compared 110 

Instruction in * 186 

Test 106 

Assembly rooms 346 

Auxiliary classes 311 

Equipment 314 

History and organization 311 

Recommendations 325 

Selection of pupils 313 

Supervision *. 321 

Teachers .-:-. 321 

Training and instruction 315 

Berry, C. S 13, 306, 484 

Blackboards 357 

Bobbitt, J. F 13, 155, 340, 484 

Branch Library rooms 346 

Buildings and equipment 340-360, 500 

Bureau of Census and Statistics of the Grand Rapids Schools 50, 473 

Business management of the public schools 441-475 

Civics 178 

Classrooms 348 

Cleaning of buildings 357 

Cloak-rooms 347 

Commercial branches 241 

Composition : 85-105, 492 

Instruction in 190 

Scale 86 

Test 85 

Conditional promotions 48-50 

Cost, of high-school education 429 

Of intermediate education 432 

Of public education 361-440, 501 

Counts, G. S. 13, 106, 484 

Course of study. Grand Rapids, Mich 248, 254 

Los Angeles, Cal 246 

Solvay, N. Y 242 

Trenton, N. J „ 247 

Courtis, S. A 186 

Cragun, J. B 13, 145, 485 

Creswell, Mrs. Cordelia 306 

Davis, C. O 13, 212, 485 



508 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

Defectives, elimination of ; Z7 

Departmentalization of work 284 

Diagrams 

Dyer, F. B 331 

Elementary schools, failures in 36-60 

Non-promotions in 36-60 

Elementary science 240 

Elimination, of defectives 2)7 

Of pupils 262 

English 231 

Enrollment, high school according to subject 260 

Junior College 267 

Expenditures, Board of Education: 

Current expenses .' 382 

Educational vs. business : 387 

Educational services 392 

Permanent improvements 382 

Expenditures for school purposes: 

Grand Rapids 375 

Experience, of grade teachers 31 

Of high-school teachers ., 28 

Of kindergarten teachers 27 

Of principals 2)2) 

Of teachers of special subjects ■. 28 

Failures 290 

In Arithmetic 40 

In elementary schools 36-60 

In reading 40 

Foreign languages 235 

Foreign population 15 

Fortnightly Club 330 

Francis, J. H 13, 208, 485 

Freeman, F. N 13, 129, 485 

Geography .— 180 

Grade teachers, experience of 31 

Preparation of 25 

Grammar 188 

Grand Rapids Public Library 164 

Gray, W. S 13, 62, 485 

Greeson, W. A , 306 

Gymnasiums 346 

Handwriting, tests in 129 

Harrington, Dr 332 

Heating 349 

High schools 497 

Enrollment of „ 220 

Location of 213 

Organization of 214 

Recitation periods of 221 

High-school teachers, experience of 28 

History 168, 237 

Instruction of, m grammar grades 174 

Household occupations 205 

Industrial education 262, 505 

Industries of Grand Rapids 17 

Instruction in the elementary schools 155-207, 494 

Judd, C. H , 13, 485 



INDEX 509 

Junior College 499 

Grades 269 

Junior high school organization 228, 497 

Kindergarten teachers, experience of 27 

Preparation of 25 

Lighting 351 

Manual training 200 

Mathematics 233 

Methods of the survey 484 

Music 147-154, 493 

Educational 148 

Instruction in 199 

Recreational 147 

Nature study 194 

New buildings 340 

Non-promotions in elementary schools 36-60, 487 

Investigation of 50 

Percentages in various grades 39 

Reasons for VJ 

Older buildings and equipment 344 

Open-air classes 329 

Open-air rooms 360 

Oral reading tests 63 

Organization of teachers 20 

Parochial schools 16 

Penmanship 129-146, 491 

Physical education 196 

Pittenger, B. F 13, 485 

Playgrounds ., 359 

Population, foreign 15 

Preparation, of grade teachers 25 

Of kindergarten teachers 25 

Principals, experience of ZZ 

Training of 2iZ 

Promotions 290 

Reading 62-84, 489 

Comparison of in Grand Rapids and Cleveland 68 

Failures in 40 

Instruction in, in intermediate and grammar grades 159 

Instruction in, in primary grades 157 

Interpretation of 69 

Methods 162 

Recommendations 275, 302, 329, 334, 338, 448 

Retarded pupils 307 

Revenue, sources and amounts of 370 

Rugg, H. O 13, 361, 441, 485 

Secondary schools 212-305 

Secondary school system as a whole 213 

School accounting 471 

School plant, business management of 445 

Construction of 462 

Maintenance of 457 

Supplies 467 

Seating 355 

Senior high school organization 254, 498 



510 SCHOOL SURVEY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN 

Silent reading, quality of .'. 11 

Rate of 74 

Tests 74 

Special classes 'VZ'...'Z ' 306-339, 496 

Spelling ; 191 

Summary report 484-506 

Supervised study 223 

Survey staff .13, 484 

Tables 

Taxation for school revenue 365 

Teachers 20-35, 276, 485 

Academic, preparation of 21 

Experience of 276 

Qualifications of 251 

Salaries of 276 

Special, preparation of , 21 

Time preparing w^ork 286 

Training of - 276 

Vacations of 282 

Technical training of teachers 21 

Tenure of teachers 21 

Tests, introduction to 61 

Training of principals ZZ 

Of teachers 276 

Truant School 334 

Ungraded classes 325 

Vacation schools 226 

Ventilation 349 

Willing, M. H ....- 13, 85, 485 

Woodruff, Dr 332 



WHITE PRINTING COMPANY. GRAND RAPIDS, MICH. 



